Carbon Copy
by JolinarJackson
Summary: An alternate reality asks for Daniel's help. Earth is surrounded by enemies: Ba'al forged an alliance with the Ori to conquer the planet. The last hope is the Lost City of the Ancients. Jack/Daniel, Rodney/Carson
1. Chapter 1

**Carbon Copy**

_Word Count:_ 32.873

_Summary: _An alternate reality asks for Daniel's help. Earth is surrounded by enemies: Ba'al forged an alliance with the Ori to conquer the planet. The last hope is the Lost City of the Ancients. Daniel, along with Jack O'Neill, Rodney McKay and Carson Beckett, embarks on a mission to save the alternate Earth, not knowing that this adventure will change his life and relationship to his best friend forever.

_Characters:_ Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Carson Beckett, Rodney McKay, Ba'al, Bill Lee, Charles Kawalsky, Walter Harriman, Nicholas Rush, Teal'c, Evan Lorne, Everett Young, Major Marks, some guest appearances, various OCs

_Pairing:_ Jack/Daniel, Rodney/Carson

_Rating:_ PG_  
Spoiler: _Small ones for _The Movie, The Enemy Within, In the Line of Duty, Seth, Point of View, Double Jeopardy, Meridian, Avenger2.0, Heroes, The Lost City, New Order, Avalon, Origin, Ex-Deus Machina, The Ark of Truth  
Setting:_ Season 8_  
Crossover:_ Stargate Atlantis, pre-season 1 / Stargate Universe, pre-season 1

_Crossover-Spoilers: _Stargate Atlantis: _Rising, Hide and Seek_ / Stargate Universe: _Air (blink and you'll miss it)_

_Warnings: _Torture, slash

_Author's Note:_ Written for the _Stargate SG-1 Big Bang 2010_.

_Feedback:_ Can't breathe without it.

_Cheerleader: _Findo, you provided me with answers to those techy details I was tripping over, helped me filling the plot holes and straightening the story arc. Without you, Ba'al wouldn't be so smart and the ending wouldn't be as it is now. Thanks for the chat, the encouraging mails and for just doing your job.

_Beta:_ Anne McSommers, you did one hell of a job by doing the beta within only a few days. Thanks for the grammar and spelling correction and for asking the right question that made me change the beginning ever so slightly.

_Disclaimer: _I'm not making money with this fanfic. The tv-shows _Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis _and _Stargate Universe_ and the characters appearing within them belong to their producers and creators. Any similarities to living or dead persons are purely coincidental and not intended.

**1,**

They were fast and quiet. Daniel Jackson didn't even know that they were there, waiting for him.

His office was dark when he arrived. He switched on the light and navigated past books that were stacked on chairs, past shelves loaded with more books and stopped at his desk that wasn't just a mess of books and notes, but of unfinished paperwork as well. Daniel let his bag fall to the floor, and put down his cup of coffee. He brought his computer to life from stand-by mode before checking his e-mails. He answered his team member Sam with a Yes to her question whether they would have breakfast together later, and shook his head with a grin when she immediately answered with a smiley. Presumably, she hadn't even left the base, but worked on her latest project through the whole night as usual.

He checked a list of the personnel present, and frowned. Jack had called and asked him to come to the base ASAP, because he had something important to show him.

Daniel's best friend had been the head of Stargate Command only for a short time, now, and he didn't seem to be to happy with this position. During the phone call that had woken Daniel from sleep approximately an hour ago, Jack had sounded as if something bad had happened. Since nobody at the SGC seemed to be alarmed, Daniel had assumed on his arrival that Jack's problem maybe was a personal one.

But Jack hadn't been in his office or in one of the quarters and now it appeared as if Jack wasn't on the base at all.

Closing his office door, Daniel decided to wait for Jack for a while. The SGC was busier at night then it had been seven years ago. There were more soldiers and the scientists working around the clock. Daniel was just about to get lost in his translation when the lights went out and his computer gave an unhappy peep before it shut down.

"Damn it," he muttered, "Not again."

More personnel meant more power usage, and the last few weeks had put a strain on the base that had been used even before the Stargate program came along. The generators were old, and Jack was trying for weeks now to get the necessary money from the budget committee to replace them. The committee saw no reason to grant the request. Daniel used the shelves to find the door, and opened it. The corridor was brightly lit. It seemed as if his office was the only one in the dark. He went back to his desk and picked up his phone. With a frown he realized, that it was dead as well. Sighing, he headed for the corridor to hopefully find an open office where he could use the phone. All of them were locked, just his luck. Only the door to the supply closet at the end of the hall opened obediently. Daniel knew that the supply closets had phones too.

Later, he would think that he should have paid more attention. If he'd just been that bit more focused on his surroundings instead of on the list of phone numbers tacked to the wall, he would have seen them cowering in the shelves' shadows.

But he wasn't, so he was just about to call for somebody able to fix his problem. Someone grabbed his arm and jammed a needle into his thigh. Daniel cried out, and pushed his attacker back. He got dizzy, stumbling against the phone. He wanted to turn around, but his body wasn't following his orders anymore. When he fell, somebody caught him, helping him to meet the floor much more gently.

"Sorry, Danny," a man said softly and while Daniel was drifting into unconsciousness, he wondered why Jack would attack him.

XXX

Consciousness was returning slowly, and with a pounding headache. Daniel grimaced, closing his eyes tighter against the onslaught of pain. He pushed his face into the cushion with a soft groan.

"There's Tylenol on the bedside table," Jack said, and Daniel nodded carefully so as to not worsen his headache.

"Thanks."

"You okay?" His friend sounded worried.

"Just let me die in peace," Daniel answered.

"You think that's funny?" Jack asked, causing Daniel to open his eyes and squint at him. Jack was sitting in a chair next to his bed and Daniel realized that they were in one if the SGC visitor quarters.

What had happened? Had he been in an accident?

Jack was wearing his green BDUs, his hair was a little unkempt, he seemed to be a little tired, but everything was like it should be. Nevertheless, something was off. Something kept niggling at Daniel's subconscious. He frowned. "What happened? I don't know … I went home, didn't I?"

Jack leant forward, bracing his arms on his knees, and Daniel just knew that whatever Jack was going to tell him, he wasn't going to like it.

"You're not in your SGC anymore, you're in my SGC – in an alternate reality."

Daniel was tempted to laugh. For approximately one second. Then he remembered. He sat up, ignoring the increasing pounding in his head. "You kidnapped me," he hissed angrily.

Jack raised his hands in defence. "Danny, I swear, there's a good reason."

"For kidnapping me? We thought you were coming as our friends."

"We did," Jack answered firmly.

Daniel left the bed and propped his hands up on the bedside table when the room started to spin. Jack got up, seemingly trying to get to him by coming around the bed, but Daniel raised his hands and leant against the wall. "Stay away from me."

"Danny, you really should lie down."

"I really should go home," Daniel answered. He crossed his arms. "I don't belong here. And I don't want to stay here. Take me home."

Jack shoved his hands into his BDU pockets. "After you've helped us out," he said.

Daniel's eyes widened in bewilderment. "Uh … no."

"Danny-"

"Don't call me that. We barely know each other."

Jack ducked his head, seemingly hurt. "Fine," he said softly. Then he raised his head. "I'll just give you a little more time to get used to this." He turned away.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Daniel called, taking a step towards Jack, but he stopped when the other man turned around to face him, "I want to leave. Now."

Jack shook his head. "Sorry."

He left the room before Daniel could utter another protest. Daniel followed him to the door and turned the knob, but it was locked. Furiously, he kicked the blue lacquered metal. "Jack!" he called, "General O'Neill!" He slapped his flat hand against the door.

No reaction.

Discouraged, he leant his forehead against the cool metal, breathing deeply, wondering how he had gotten into this situation.

_Reality No. 389 – Twenty-six hours before_

The archives in Cheyenne Mountain held all the things that the SGC didn't fly out to Area 51, because they were needed or that were undergoing tests at the moment. One of those things was the most interesting device which the Stargate program had found, but also the one they knew the least about.

Without the remote control, it was nothing more than a blind mirror which gathered dust in one of the smallest rooms of the SGC on level twenty-five. It was guarded by cameras 24/7. In the last few weeks, the night shift guard Sergeant Granger had noticed a growing interest in the quantum mirror. Every evening, when Granger started his shift in the SGC's archives, scientists had been with the mirror, subjecting it to different tests.

They always seemed dissatisfied when they left, therefore Granger assumed that the mirror would get a return plane ticket to Area 51 soon. The protective plate over the mirror's surface, which had been installed after the last incident years ago, had been removed. For Granger, this meant more work because he had to make sure regularly and in person that nothing had come through.

He glanced at the screen showing him the inactive mirror and then became engrossed in his book again. Doctor Bill Lee stepped up to his desk near the elevator and put a small box on the table. He rummaged about in his trouser pockets, and then presented a dog-eared confirmation from General O'Neill. "I have permission to take this with me."

He opened the wooden box and Granger glanced at the Goa'uld ribbon device. He entered the barcode number printed on the box into the computer to sign the device out. "Have fun."

Lee seemed to take the comment seriously, because he smiled and entered the elevator with the object of his research. Granger shook his head with a sigh as the doors were closing, glancing at the video feed again. "I really need to get into one of the teams," he mumbled. He focused on his book until a movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn towards the monitor. He tensed up. There was something on the surface of the mirror. Four men were standing there ... and then, they were suddenly in the base. Alerted, Granger sealed the area off and pressed the alarm button. He got up abruptly and stumbled backwards in shock, grabbing for his weapon, when he saw himself waving into the camera.

XXX

Jack O'Neill was sure that General Hammond must have had at least ten assistants whom he kept hidden someplace during his work as the SGC's leader, because it had always seemed to be so easy for him. He'd always finished office work before five, as if it were nothing. Maybe, he'd hidden clones of Walter Harriman and never told Jack about them.

Jack would like to know where Hammond kept them. Not only because he wanted them to do his office work, but because he wanted to get rid of the original calling him in the middle of the night, too.

"_General?"_ Walter asked after Jack had answered his phone with a barely human "'lo?".

Jack sighed into his pillow. "Is there an attack? Did Thor call? Did Apophis come back to life … again?" he growled.

"_No, sir."_

"Then let me sleep."

"_It's the quantum mirror, sir. It was activated. We've got visitors."_

Jack sat up and rubbed the tiredness from his eyes with a hand. "I'm on my way." He hung up. That damn mirror! It was still a mystery to Jack how Carter had managed to convince the general not to destroy the thing.

For him, the mirror meant trouble. He got dressed, hesitated for a moment and then reached for his cell phone. He knew that Carter and Teal'c were on the base. But he really wanted to have their expertise for first contact there too. He dialled Daniel's number and looked for his car keys.

Daniel answered after the third ring, sounding disgustingly awake. _"Hello?" _

"Daniel, the mirror was activated. Come to the base ASAP." He heard Daniel answer _"Good morning, sunshine"_ before he disconnected the call.

XXX

Jack cursed himself for letting the chance slide to win twenty dollars from Daniel, because he knew who was waiting for them as soon as the elevator doors opened on level 28.

"Good morning, sir," Sergeant Walter Harriman said, ever the dutiful assistant, and handed Jack a cup of coffee when he was leaving the elevator with Daniel in tow, "Good morning, Dr. Jackson."

"Who is it, Walter?" Jack asked, already heading for the briefing room. Daniel was walking next to him, Walter a step ahead of them.

"The medical tests are done. Everything's looking good. We've got four visitors, sir. The team's leader is Major … Colonel Kawalsky."

It was giving Jack a sting, even after all these years, to hear the name of his deceased best friend. He concealed his reaction while Walter continued. "He came through with Sgt. Granger and Dr. Lee."

Jack didn't remember Granger, but he knew Bill Lee and Daniel uttered a surprised "Hm". Walter stopped in front of the door to the briefing room, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "The fourth team member is Lt. Fraiser."

"Janet?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows rose above the rims of his glasses.

"No, Doctor," Walter answered, "Cassandra."

Jack and Daniel exchanged a surprised look.

"Major Carter and Teal'c are already there, sir." Walter opened the door, letting Jack and Daniel walk past him. Sam and Teal'c were sitting at the big conference table in the middle of the room with their backs to Jack and Daniel. They turned around to face them when they entered. Teal'c's face was impassive as always, only a glimmer in his dark eyes telling that he wasn't only curious, but taken by surprise. Sam was pale, her blue eyes round and a little shocked. Daniel assumed that this was due to Cassie's presence. Sam had visited Cassandra at college only a couple of days ago.

Jack was feeling a little creeped out by the young woman sitting at the table, too. She had tucked her sandy hair in a strict knot at the back of her head and was wearing a uniform. On her sleeve, where in this reality the SG teams had their team insignia, was a patch with the silhouette of the mirror, a bold 1 embroidered on it. Where the Ta'uri insignia should be, a R298 could be seen on a white background. In front of Cassandra was the remote control for the mirror. A young man whom Jack didn't know sat beside her. He had fair short hair, deep brown eyes, and a friendly face.

He had to be Sgt. Granger. Doctor Lee didn't look much differently than in this reality. A bit on the stocky side, nearly all his hair gone and beard stubble covering his round face. Only the glasses were different, they were rimmed red.

He sat on Cassandra's other side and was looking at Jack and Daniel with open curiosity. Jack wondered whether they existed also in his reality, and he was looking for differences now.

Colonel Kawalsky, his dark hair carefully styled and with a small scar on his cheek, was sitting next to Lee, throwing a crooked smile at the general. "Jack," he said. He looked at Daniel. "Hey, Doc! It's really good to see you."

Daniel nodded hesitantly. He was a little surprised, since this seemed to be the first known reality in which he was part of the SGC. He and Jack sat down at the table, Daniel next to Sam and Jack on his seat at the head.

"So …," he said, insecure. The four seemed neither hunted nor threatened. Jack was rather sure that they were completely calm. He thought he knew why. "You guys aren't doing this for the first time?"

Kawalsky nodded, smiling. "We've got teams. Don't you visit ARs?"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "No."

Sam seemed to be fascinated. "Until now, we only met other realities by accident."

Lee propped his arms on the table, leaning forward, confusion written on his face. "Why? I mean it's pretty obvious that ARs can exchange viable information."

"It creeps us out," Jack answered.

Kawalsky laughed. "You get used to it, man."

"So," Daniel asked, "don't you have a Stargate program?"

"Sure," Kawalsky answered, "there are two commands run in Cheyenne Mountain for two years now – the SGC and the QMC, the Quantum Mirror Command. Jack, you're the boss of both commands. You're a general in our reality, too."

Jack grinned. "It's a gift."

Cassandra spoke for the first time. "But there are differences, too." She looked at Sam and Teal'c. "I've never seen you before."

Sam and Teal'c exchanged a surprised look.

"Well, I …" Sam frowned. "In our reality, we're good friends. Especially since …" She stopped, biting her lip.

"Since my mom's death?" Cassandra asked. She nodded. "Don't worry. I'm okay. It happened in our reality, too."

"Janet was my best friend. You were living with me after she died. Now, you're in college, studying medicine."

Cassandra smiled. "I can't imagine becoming a doctor. And … after my mother's death, Uncle Jack …" She stopped and ducked her head. She cleared her throat. "… Uncle Jack took me in." She was leaving something out, but Jack didn't want to prod since it seemed to be a personal matter.

Silence descended and Jack leant back in his chair. "You want to exchange information?"

Kawalsky took on the role of the team leader and nodded. "Yes. We want to talk. You get information, we get information. Nice and easy."

"Well," Jack said, getting up, "I have to make a few calls, but your idea sounds good to me. You can roam around the base, but I want someone …" He stopped, massaging his forehead. He disliked the idea to treat Kawalsky and Cassandra like a security risk.

"Babysitter?" Kawalsky asked, his eyebrows raised, "No problem, we understand."

Dr. Lee looked at his watch. "We've got forty hours before we have to leave and get back to our reality."

Granger nodded. "Entropic cascade failure. An hour in our reality's enough to neutralize the danger, though. We can come back and spend another forty-five hours here if needed."

Sam was struck dumb. "That sounds really well organized."

Lee nodded. "We experimented a lot, worked with information gathered in ARs …"

"I'd like to hear more about that," Sam said, looking pleadingly at Jack with big blue eyes.

He nodded. "By all means, knock yourself out."

XXX

"So, Doc," Kawalsky said, smiling at him from his side at the table in the mess, "what are you doing in this reality for a living?"

The mess hall was almost deserted at this time in the morning. The visitors were already cooperating without the official green light and Lee was informing Sam with Cassandra about the QMC program. Jack was still speaking to the president, while Granger had left for the mirror with Teal'c to give their world a thumbs up. Daniel shrugged and sipped his coffee. "Missions with SG-1, a couple of translations … uh … I'm scheduled for a trip to Antarctica next week."

Kawalsky raised his eyebrows. "So, you are looking for the Lost City, too?"

"Yes," Daniel answered.

Kawalsky stirred his muesli. "And you are still looking for the coordinates?"

Daniel nodded. "It's not easy, but I think I'm near a breakthrough."

"Really?" Kawalsky asked, grinning, "Interesting."

"So, you don't have a remote for your mirror?" Cassie asked and Sam nodded. She regretted the fact that they couldn't control the mirror. Maybe, they would have a QMC program themselves already, if the remote control hadn't been lost.

Lee rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We're travelling to many realities with exactly the same problem. We're trying to macgyver a remote at the moment."

Sam looked at him in surprise. "You can do that?"

Lee shrugged with a shy smile. "Not yet … but we're working on it."

Sam leant back in her chair, looking at the conference table thoughtfully. Her curiosity finally won. "So, I'm not in the SGC in your reality?"

Lee shook his head. "You're working for the Pentagon. O'Neill offered you a job, but …" He sighed. "You told him to leave the position vacant until your father gets better. You wanted to stay with him in Washington."

Sam ducked her head. Jack entered the conference room and the three turned to face him. He put his hands on his hips. "We've got green light."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

_Reality No. 298 – Present Time_

Daniel was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room when the door opened. Jack entered first, followed by two men. When Daniel recognized Colonel Kawalsky, his lips thinned in anger. The third man stopped next to Jack, his hands dug into his BDU pockets. Daniel didn't know him. He had bright eyes and dark, short hair. He was younger than Jack and Kawalsky and had an attractive, kind face. After a moment of silence, Jack said, "You know Colonel Kawalsky, the QMC's leader." He nodded at the stranger. "That's Colonel Evan Lorne. He's the SGC's commander. Both of them report to me."

Daniel focused on Jack. "You have no right to just take me as if I'm a tool you can borrow."

Jack was visibly hurt by his words, but he shook his head. "We aren't going to hurt you, Danny."

Daniel crossed his arms and Jack sighed. "Daniel," he corrected, "The opposite's the case." He looked at Lorne and Kawalsky. "We'll send you home as soon as you've done us a favour."

"It's no favour when I'm being forced to do it, is it?"

"C'mon, Doc," Kawalsky sighed.

Lorne didn't seem to have the patience for this conversation and cut to the chase. "We need the address leading to the Lost City."

Daniel's eyes widened in surprise. "The Lost City of the Ancients?" he asked.

Lorne shrugged. "That one."

Daniel let out a helpless laugh. "I don't have it."

"Danny-"

"It's the truth." Daniel looked firmly at Jack. "I can't help you even if I wanted to."

Jack looked at Kawalsky who said, "We'll provide you with everything you need to find that address. We can even arrange a trip to Antarctica if that's what it takes."

Daniel shook his head. "It could take years to find it," he said.

Kawalsky frowned. "In your reality, you told me that you were almost there."

Daniel got up, his eyebrows drawn together with impatience. "Which doesn't mean that it can be done in five minutes." His frustration forced him to walk around the room in a tight circle. "Besides, it could be hidden in a different way in this reality. It's possible that I'd have to start form the beginning to find it."

"We've got specialists on it," Jack explained, "You wouldn't have to start from the beginning."

"Well, your specialists can find it themselves."

"They can't," Jack answered.

"And how is that my problem?" Daniel asked. He leant against the wall. "Ask your own Daniel to do it," he said.

"We're asking you," Kawalsky answered.

Daniel shook his head. "You can't just go to another reality, expecting them to solve your problems."

Lorne turned away impatiently. "It's no use."

"Evan," Jack started, but Lorne turned around to face him, shaking his head.

"No. I told you that this was a bad idea." He opened the door. "We should be focusing on our real problem here instead of chasing ghosts …" He left the room with a last furious look at Daniel, and slammed the door. Jack stared at the floor, hunched his shoulders and buried his hands in his pockets.

Daniel let the silence stretch for a moment. "You were the one who called and told me to come to the base, weren't you?"

Jack didn't answer, but his guilty look was a loud enough yes for Daniel. He addressed Kawalsky. "You were with him during the kidnapping. What did you do to our guards?"

"They didn't expect us to attack them," Kawalsky answered calmly.

Daniel nodded bitterly. "Because we trusted you. We thought that you would bring your Jack to our reality to talk to our Jack." He shook his head. "You attacked us."

"No," Kawalsky answered, "nobody got hurt. We used Zats on the guards."

"It was an attack," Daniel answered, "Just tell me one good reason …"

He was interrupted by an out-of-breath Walter Harriman bursting through the door.

"General, Colonel," he panted, "we heard from the _Odin_."

Jack and Kawalsky looked at each other in alarm, and left the room without further word. Daniel heard the door lock and fell back on the bed.

XXX

Daniel knew that he had to get away. He stared at the door, waiting for it to open. He would seize the first opportunity he got. For the last half an hour, he'd been able to eavesdrop on the two guards watching his room. Finally, one of them had announced that he was going to the mess to get something to eat for Daniel.

Daniel assumed that the security protocol was hardly different here from that in his own SGC which meant that only two soldiers would be guarding his room. The lock was operated and Daniel tensed. He was sitting on the end of the bed, looking as innocent as he could to the entering airman.

"Sir, I've got something to eat for you," the young man said, putting the tray down on the table near the door.

"Thank you," Daniel said, getting up. His eyes locked onto the Zat hanging from the man's belt beside the Beretta. He stopped at the table and peeked under the hood which was keeping the meal warm. "Oatmeal?"

The soldier looked at him in apology. "Yes, sir. I'm afraid it's the best I could get."

Daniel smiled. "That's okay." He leant forward as if he wanted to pull the chair out and the soldier turned away to leave the room. Daniel gave him a push, grabbing the Zat. Before the airman could get to his Beretta, Daniel had knocked him out. The other guard entered the room. Daniel shot him too, and then ran from the room, bypassing a man with a white coat.

"Hey!" the man called, but Daniel was already heading for the elevators. He prayed to some un-known deity without glowing eyes that the base in this reality had the same layout as the one in his. The alarm sounded, and Daniel cursed. He heard loud voices at the end of the corridor, and changed his escape route. He opened the emergency exit's hatch, and climbed into the shaft before he closed the heavy door again.

He looked up, then down into the weakly illuminated shaft, before he turned to the door. "Level sixteen," he mumbled. The mirror also was on level nineteen, as in his reality too. That much, Bill Lee had told them.

But instead of the archives, the head office of the QMC was situated there.

He climbed down the narrow ladder. He knew that he didn't have much time.

They would know that he would be heading for the mirror. Because of his rush, he slipped and only his solid hold onto one of the rungs prevented him from falling down the shaft. When he arrived on level nineteen, he slowly opened the hatch, peeking into the corridor. It was quiet. Daniel suspected that it wouldn't stay that way for long, and left the shaft.

He left the door open, running toward the room in which he suspected the mirror was, the largest room of the level. He peeked around the corner. Two soldiers guarded the room. However, they were standing at ease, leaning against the wall. One of them was laughing at a joke the other one was just finishing. They didn't even notice Daniel before they dropped to the floor, unconscious.

Daniel entered the room and locked the door. He was alone. The mirror, and a desk with a computer were the only furniture. And when he saw the blind mirror in front of him, he suddenly knew where his tactical fault lay. He didn't have the remote control.

Another step into the room roused an alarm, probably a security measure to prevent intruders from other realities to enter the QMC without being noticed. There were loud voices coming from outside, and Daniel turned to the door. "Damn."

When the door opened after several hard hits, he raised his hands in defeat.

XXX

Jack's grip around Daniel's arm was hard enough to hurt, but since his hands were handcuffed behind his back he couldn't do anything about it. Jack dragged him along the corridor on level ten. The look of the doors told Daniel that they were on this reality's detention level. "You can't expect me to not even try," he said.

Jack opened one of the doors and shoved him into the cell. Daniel gave the room fitted out with just a bed and a table hardly a glance, but immediately turned around to Jack. The general followed him inside, throwing the two guards behind them a look to prevent them from coming in, too, and slammed the door. "What were you thinking? You're accusing us of attacking your guys, but expect me to accept it when you do the same?"

"I want to go home. I won't help people who are so obviously our enemies."

Jack rushed towards him, outraged, and Daniel took two surprised steps back.

"You don't know anything about us! Not a thing!"

Daniel pressed his back against the wall, staring him down defiantly.

"We tried to do it the nice way, but apparently, you wanna do it the hard way," Jack added, anger and frustration in his every move and word.

Daniel felt a flutter of fear, but he stumped it down resolutely. "You call that nice?"

Jack dragged him to the bed and opened the bonds around Daniel's right wrist. Instead of freeing his left wrist, too, he chained him to the bedpost. He pushed Daniel backwards until the edge of the bed dug into his knees and he had to sit down. "What are you gonna do, now?" the archaeologist asked, trying not to let his panic show when Jack stopped in front of him, his arms crossed and his face unreadable and dark. He didn't know that man in front of him.

"Do you know what I had to do to convince the superiors that this was a good idea? You're going to help us," Jack told him with an eerie calm.

Daniel swallowed. "No. Do your worst. Beat me up … torture …" He stopped when Jack's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Let your own Daniel do it."

"He's dead!" Jack screamed, and Daniel felt as if he'd backhanded him.

"Did you kill him, because he didn't want to help you?" The idea was absurd but Daniel was furious, and a little intimidated and he would do everything to unsettle the man in front of him. Apparently, he succeeded. Jack turned away and brushed a hand through his grey hair. When he turned round to Daniel again, his expression had changed. The eyes seemed tired ... beaten and Daniel suddenly had the feeling to have said something terribly wrong.

He stared at Jack, swallowing, and waited for a reaction. Jack looked at him, to the handcuffs, then into Daniel's eyes and he pressed the lips together. Without knowing why, a soft "Sorry" escaped Daniel.

Jack turned away and left the cell. The door was slammed, and Daniel winced. He pulled at the handcuffs as if they would give away, but of course they didn't. Daniel stretched out on the hard bed and stared at the ceiling. He waited.

XXX

Half an hour later, Jack returned. Daniel sat up. "What now?" he asked. Jack was silent. He undid the handcuffs, tossing them on the bed, before he pulled a small black ... thing out of pocket, looking like a bug. He seized Daniel's arm and dropped the thing into his breast pocket, before he pulled a radio out of his trouser pocket. "Now."

Bright light surrounded them and Daniel recognized the Asgard's beaming technology before he had to close his eyes against the glaring light.

When he opened them again, he was looking at the command bridge of a spaceship belonging to Earth's fleet. The commanding officer was sitting in his chair directly in front of them. His 2IC was sitting to his right, working on his screen. Another soldier was sitting on the left side of the commander, also at work. Behind them, crew members were standing at even more screens installed into the grey walls or working with laptops. Everyone was wearing dark blue uniforms with a badge on the chest on which a silhouette of the ship could be seen – under this the name: _Artemis_. Quiet conversations were floating through the air. Everyone was tense and worried, which made Daniel nervous. The commanding officer nodded at Jack, and got up of his chair.

"General O'Neill," the commanding officer said. He looked at Daniel with sceptic green eyes and raised his dark eyebrows. "Dr. Jackson … it's … weird to see you." He offered his hand and Daniel took it automatically, reading the man's name tag: _Col. Everett Young_. "Welcome onboard the _Artemis_," Young said. Daniel looked at Jack who was still holding onto his arm.

"What are you trying to do? What am I doing here?"

Jack pulled at his arm, turning Daniel around to face the window showing them the space.

"You wanted to know why we kidnapped you, didn't you?" He pushed him towards the window and let go.

Daniel's eyes widened in surprise and he took another step towards the window to stand directly in front of it. Shock slammed through his confusion when he realized what he was looking at. "Oh, my God."

Pyramid-shaped Goa'uld mother ships, at least ten of them, were hanging in the distance. But they weren't the only ones ... the other ships of which only three or four were there had a concave shape. They were of a bright colour, almost white, and Daniel doubted that he'd ever seen them before.

He looked to the left and to the right, seeing more ships beside the _Artemis_, those clearly from Earth, obviously ready for defence. There had to be fifteen ships. When Daniel looked down, he could see Earth, tiny and vulnerable.

"Colonel, report," Jack ordered.

Young cleared his throat. "They haven't made contact. They are out of our weapon range, we can't reach them, but they can't attack us either. They seem to be just waiting for something, or maybe they're planning something. I'm not sure. I talked to Colonel Telford, Colonel Caldwell and Colonel Makepeace … thanks to the Asgard, our fire power's bigger and they are outnumbered. But they aren't giving up. They're just waiting."

"For what?"

"We don't know, sir."

Daniel asked, "Who are the others?"

"You don't know them?" Jack asked in surprise.

Daniel turned around to face him, his back to the frontline, now. "I don't think so."

Young glanced at Jack. "They're Ori, Doctor Jackson."

"Allies of the Goa'uld?"

"Not really," Young answered.

Jack put his hands on his hips. "After Ba'al had gained enough power to rule over the other system lords, the Ori arrived and threatened him."

Daniel shook his head. "Wait a second … Ba'al's the most powerful Goa'uld?"

"Long story," Jack answered, "He forged an alliance with the Ori. We only met their priors, servants who have more power than their soldiers or their followers, and we know that the Ori are led by a woman they call the Orici."

"Orici," Daniel repeated.

"Her name's Kalina," Young answered, "We have never seen her."

Jack nodded. "But there are rumours that she's one hell of a beautiful woman … and powerful."

"Powerful?" Daniel asked.

"No ribbon device, Danny, no technology … the Ori are calling Kalina a goddess, and themselves half-gods who have to spread her word. It seems that Kalina can do things Goa'uld can only dream of. Without using technology."

Daniel swallowed. "What about the Asgard … you have to have allies here, too."

"The 'Gate's blocked," Jack answered, "For three days now. They're dialling in repeatedly, and they're faster than we are. The Asgard are too far away for us to send a ship and besides, they are fighting the Replicators."

"And the Tok'ra?" Daniel asked. Jack looked at him questioningly. "You don't know the Tok'ra?" Daniel asked.

"Why?"

Daniel turned away. "Of course you don't. Sam isn't part of the SGC, here, she never was a host to Jolinar and never …" He stopped, staring at the hostile ships in the distance.

He felt Jack directly behind him before the general spoke. "Our only hope's the Lost City. We need that address."

"You can't dial out," Daniel recalled.

"We've got experts working on that dialling program right now. But if they make it, we'll need that address. It could be our only chance."

"You should have told me from the start," Daniel said.

"You weren't listening."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"Orders. Our bosses don't want other realities to know how vulnerable we are."

Daniel looked down to Earth. "You have accomplished more than we have. You have a fleet …" He stopped.

"We need help," Jack said.

Daniel nodded slowly. "I have to get to Antarctica, and look through the Ancient's database there." He turned around to face Jack and looked up at him. "I'll help you."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

_Reality No. 389_

"What?" Jack asked, aghast, staring at his best friend as if he'd grown another head.

Daniel was standing with his back to the mirror, one hand behind his back near the mirror's surface and stared pleadingly at Jack. "They need my help, Jack. I won't be gone for long. I just want to help them find the address to the Lost City, maybe make a trip there with them, then I'll be back, a few days at the most."

Jack looked doubtingly at Sam who was standing next to him with a hand buried in her short fair hair, looking at Daniel in shock. Teal'c raised an eyebrow so that it nearly touched the golden tattoo on his forehead. In view of the unbelieving silence of his team comrades, Daniel explained, "I have to help them, Jack. Their Earth is standing at the edge of an invasion."

"Daniel, those guys crept in here and kidnapped you. They could be lying. We can't come after you because you know very well that we don't a have remote control. You would be on your own."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I know. But, Jack … I have to help them."

Jack looked at Sam. "Carter!"

"What?" She looked at her commanding officer questioningly.

"Say something to stop him," Jack ordered.

"What should I say, sir?"

"Daniel Jackson is able to make his own decisions, O'Neill," Teal'c said, his hands clasped behind his back.

Jack looked up to the taller man. "Well, thank you fort hat, T."

Teal'c tipped his dark-skinned head as if he wanted to say _"You're welcome"_. The Jaffa didn't let it shine through if he'd understood the sarcasm in the voice of his human friend.

Jack looked back at Daniel. His brown eyes were determined. "You're staying right here. Step away from that mirror."

"No, Jack," Daniel answered.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "No?" He looked at Sam. "Carter!"

"I … sir, I …" Her pretty face was showing her confusion, then she rolled her blue eyes. "I would help them if I were in Daniel's place, sir."

"Whoever said that you are two of the smartest people on Earth?" Jack asked, glancing back at forth between his two youngest former team mates. Then he looked at Daniel with determination. "Step back from that mirror."

"No, Jack."

"Let their Daniel clean up their mess."

"He's dead. Entropic cascade failure shouldn't be a problem, by the way. I can't get sick if my alter ego's dead," Daniel answered.

"Great. Well, then we only have to worry about Ba'al, those new bad Ori guys, our crazy alter egos and your preference to get into trouble. You won't leave."

Daniel stared Jack down and Jack stared Daniel down.

"I will," the archaeologist said finally.

"You won't."

"I will."

"You won't."

"Jack-"

"Daniel?"

The archaeologist shook his head, brushed a hand through his dark hair and said, "See ya."

Jack's eyes widened in shock. "No, Daniel, don't you dare!"

But the archaeologist leant back and touched the mirror.

_Reality No. 298_

"Turn it off," Daniel said and the young technician standing beside Jack did. The last glimpse of his reality showed Daniel Jack's furious face when he ran towards the mirror, then the surface went blank.

"Huh," Jack said, "That went well, right?"

XXX

Daniel closed the blue fleece jacket which he had fetched from Daniel Jackson's locker in the SGC and looked up to the general. Jack was engaged in giving Young some orders. Then he joined Daniel in front of the window on _Artemis_' bridge, and zipped up his own fleece jacket. He pulled at the hem of the pullover he was wearing underneath it and looked at Daniel apologetically. "The heating in the Antarctica base isn't as good as here. We have to pay attention to not cause a collapse."

Daniel nodded. "It's the same in our base."

Jack addressed Colonel Young. "We'll tell you when we're ready to return. You know how to reach me. No matter what happens … I want to know."

"Yes, sir," Young answered. Then he nodded at Major Marks. Daniel waved to Young briefly before he closed his eyes against the glaring light.

When he opened them, he was in the base in Antarctica. A glass dome was stretching above them, supported by metal. Through the dome, Daniel could see the sky – blue and cloudlessly. Nothing was indicating the danger lurking in space. The ground had been freed of the snow but it was frozen and reflected the sunrays falling through the glass. Snow cats and other vehicles were parked here. The exit towards the eternal ice was located behind Daniel. To his right, a tunnel led to the inhabited section of the base. Daniel knew the layout of the base in his reality: The habitable part was holding two guest accommodations, the accommodations of the scientists and soldiers, several laboratories, a mess hall, a small infirmary and bathrooms. A tiny town in the middle of nowhere. On his left, two soldiers were sitting at a desk next to the entrance to an improvised elevator which led down to the heart of the base. Down there, a small and large chamber were located, they'd been built by the Ancients themselves millennia's ago when they'd still been living on Earth. In Daniel's reality, they'd found an Ancient database in the small room, filled with chronicles and plans of spaceships which had apparently been sent to space millennia ago to explore new areas of the universe. Daniel had already asked Jack and he'd confirmed that they'd found a similar database in this reality.

In both realities, the large chamber held the Ancient chair, theoretically capable of shooting drones on hostile ships, defending Earth. But Jack had already explained to him that its energy source, the zero point module, was depleted.

The chair could be activated, but it couldn't fire more than one drone at a time anymore and those not very far. Jack hoped that they would find such a ZPM in the Lost City. A couple of curious looks were sent their way, but the people went back to work immediately when they recognized Jack. Daniel looked around. "Just like at home," he said.

"I'll show you the data base," Jack answered, heading towards the habitable section. Some of the scientists they encountered nodded at Jack in greeting. Daniel needed a few seconds to get used to the bright neon light.

"We downloaded the data base and copied it to our computers." Jack pointed to the end of the corridor. "Our expert's down this hall."

They passed some doors and more corridors and still had some feet to go when the door Jack had pointed at opened and a man exited, clearly in a huff. He had short dark hair, was wearing a shrilly orange fleece jacket and Daniel thought that he knew him from somewhere.

"And maybe," he said angrily, turning back to the room, "the solution's in there and we can't reach it because of your cowardice." The door closed automatically and the man turned away. He came towards Jack and Daniel. Daniel recognized Rodney McKay as the scientist stopped in front of them, glaring at Jack, his thin lips pressed together in anger. "That mule headed coward is hindering any progress. But you wanted him to be here."

Jack gave a long sigh. "He's-"

"Yes," Rodney interrupted impatiently. Then, he seemed to realize that Daniel was there and gave him an appraising look.

Daniel offered his hand. "I'm Daniel Jackson."

Rodney ignored him, instead he threw his hands in the air. "Doesn't anyone listen to me anymore?" With that, he went past them, stalking away.

Jack cleared his throat. "That was Dr. Rodney McKay. He's our leading scientist at the QMC, and in the search for the address."

"I know him," Daniel said. Rodney McKay, egocentric, whiny and cheeky, he'd been Sam's nemesis for a long time. Meanwhile, Daniel had the feeling that they'd gotten used to each other, which was probably only possible because Rodney was rather seldom present at Stargate Command and Sam was ignoring his pitiful come-ons.

He was one of the leading scientists in Antarctica in Daniel's reality, too. It had been Sam who had suggested Rodney for the job.

"So, you got one of them, too?"

Daniel nodded. "But I don't work with him at the moment."

"Lucky you," Jack answered, "By the way, he didn't want us to get you." Jack walked down the corridor.

When he opened the door through which Rodney had come a man said, "No, Rodney. I won't sit in the chair, again." He turned around to face them and Daniel guessed him to be his age. He had dark hair and a kind, round face. He sat at one of the four computers. Shelves with medical monographs and white boards with complicated equations were distributed in the room. A heating element and a table with a microwave and a coffee machine were standing in a corner. The room was windowless like all the others here and illuminated by neon lamps.

When the man recognized Jack, he widened his bright blue eyes in startled surprise. "Oh, it's you."

"Dr. Beckett," Jack said, smiling, "Problems?"

"Yes," the man answered, "All of them because of that … that …"

He stopped with a helpless shake of his head and Jack said, "Our country's thankful that you're actually trying to work with him."

Beckett and Jack shared a short laughter about this apparently often tested joke. Jack nodded at Daniel. "That's Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Beckett shook his hand. "I've heard so much about you," he said and Daniel noticed that he had a Scottish accent, "You're coming from an … alternate reality?"

Daniel nodded. Beckett laughed in astonishment. "That's … bloody brilliant."

Daniel shrugged and smiled, not sure how to respond to that.

"Dr. Carson Beckett," Jack introduced him, "has an exceptionally strong variation of the Ancient gene. We found him by accident. He's also the one who discovered the gene. Some of the Ancients' devices can only be used by people with the corresponding genes. Believe me, our biologists are having a field day with it, re-writing the evolution since we have to be related to the Ancients somehow. I have the gene too, but Dr. Beckett is our most talented candidate so far."

Daniel looked at Carson, his interest peaked. "Really? That's impressive."

Carson shrugged. "I'd say Thank you, but I'm not as thrilled by it as you are."

"Give it time, Doctor." Jack addressed Daniel. "He's known about the Stargate for just about two weeks, now."

"Oh!" Daniel smiled, remembering his own disbelief when faced with the 'Gate for the first time, "Yeah, give it some time. You'll get used to it. So, you are able to activate the chair?"

Carson grimaced. "Well, I'm able to almost kill two people in a military helicopter. I'm afraid that I have the gene, but no talent to use it. Doctor McKay wants me to sit in the chair again, but I don't know if that's such a good idea."

Jack grew serious. "Well, would we be able to find the address faster if you do?"

"We don't know," Carson answered.

"Until now, I haven't found any indication that the address is hidden in the chair, at least in our reality," Daniel answered.

McKay's voice interrupted their discussion. "You don't know anything. I'm the one leading this project for months now. I know more about it than anyone else."

"But," Jack said with raised eyebrows, "you aren't getting anywhere."

Rodney frowned. "You can't hurry science, General."

"Daniel will help you."

Rodney snorted. "What does he know?"

Daniel drew his eyebrows together. "I'm working the project in my reality."

"We brought him here to help."

"Really?" Rodney asked, looking at Jack with challenging blue eyes, "So, there's really a good reason for him being here."

Carson ducked his head, looking almost embarrassed. A silent communication seemed to ignite between Jack and Rodney. They stared at each other, the tension in the room suddenly suffocating. Daniel crossed his arms, looking from one to the other helplessly. Jack finally broke the silence. "You're working with him, Doctor." He headed for the door. "No choice." He left the room.

Carson cleared his throat while Rodney was pinning Daniel with a dark stare. "Well, you heard the general," he said, his voice dripping with contempt, and stepped up to a computer, "Let's get started."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

The database had been copied to the computers, but Daniel preferred to look at the original. At Carson's touch, a holographic screen rose from the plain, gray slim box Rodney described as the Ancients' version of an USB stick. The characters were glittering orange-red on a bright, yellowish background and Daniel drove his hand through the screen in wonder before he started to concentrate on the innumerable texts. In his reality, he hadn't had the possibility of seeing the database in the original, instead working at his computer at the translation.

He noticed after a while that this database was very similar to the one in his reality. The following several hours, Daniel and Rodney were working on the texts while Carson was sitting in a corner at a computer, leafing through thick books and making notes.

Daniel's eyes skimmed the text known to him until he stumbled over a single paragraph and stopped. "Huh."

Rodney looked up from his screen. "What?" he asked. Daniel didn't answer, his entire focus on the text, so Rodney stood up and joined him. He shoved Daniel aside and looked at the text himself, his eyes squinting. "Where did you find this?"

Daniel shrugged. "I wanted to see if the data base was holding any information on the chair and searched for Praclarush Taonas."

Carson raised his eyebrows questioningly. "What does that mean?"

Rodney sighed. "Last year, one of our teams found that place after General O'Neill downloaded the Ancients' repository of knowledge into his brain. On Praclarush Taonas, we found evidence that the Lost City's on Earth."

"Well, not anymore," Daniel nodded, "We made the same experience." He massaged his temple. A headache was starting to make itself known.

"Yeah, but how does that help us?"

Daniel pointed to the text. "It says that part of the Lost City remained on Earth. It's the base under the ice, we know that much. And that everyone with Ancient blood will be able to find the city itself if he finds _sella_."

"Okay," Rodney said. "We have Ancient blood," he said with a look to Carson who stood up and joined them in front of the data base. "Where do we find that _Sella_ guy? "

Carson rolled his eyes. "_Sella_ means _chair_, Rodney. Shouldn't you be able to understand Latin?" he asked and smiled when Rodney glared at him.

Rodney addressed Daniel. "We need the chair."

"Yes, and someone with the Ancient gene to activate it," Daniel answered. Both of them looked at Carson.

The doctor raised his hands in defence and took a step back. "No. General O'Neill-"

"Isn't here. He's got more important things to do than sit in the chair," Rodney said.

Carson's eyes showed indignation. "And I don't?"

"No," Rodney answered.

"I don't want to," Carson said, "I'll kill somebody when I sit in that bloody chair again."

"Carson-"

"Rodney," Daniel interrupted and stepped between the two men, "why don't you head downstairs to the chair and prepare everything, okay? We'll be right there."

Rodney looked at him sceptically.

"Please," Daniel said. Rodney stared at him undecidedly for a moment, then he trudged away. If it was possible to slam an automated door, then he'd just done it.

Carson brushed a hand through his short hair. "I can't do this."

"Carson," Daniel said and gripped his shoulders, "nothing's going to happen." He smiled reassuringly. "You can't panic, because that will cause the wrong system to activate. That could be the reason why you fired a drone instead of activating the chair's data base. It's somewhere in this chair, and we need it. Earth's fate is depending on you."

Carson's eyes widened. "Are you trying to help me with that?"

Daniel grimaced. "It didn't work, huh?"

Carson shook his head.

"Okay," Daniel said, "but it's the truth."

Carson sighed and ducked his head. "I know." He looked up at Daniel. "Could you at least get Rodney to leave me alone?"

Daniel smiled. "I'll do what I can."

XXX

Daniel and Carson reached the Ancient base under the ice with the elevator under the glass dome. The outpost was enlightened by lamps the scientists had installed. There were many people present. Several scientists were standing gathered around a deactivated drone and examined it. The weapon was as long as Daniel's arm and looked a bit like a jellyfish. Other scientists were dealing with the little divided-off room in which the database had been found, and others were working on the chair. Rodney was standing on the pedestal next to the chair, a laptop in his hand, and was fully and completely concentrated on whatever the screen showed him. When Carson and Daniel got closer, he looked to a man a bit older than him who was wearing glasses and had long, pale brown hair. He was standing at the foot of the pedestal.

"What is this?" Rodney asked.

The man crossed his arms – ready for battle – and answered with a heavy Czech accent, "Those are the calculations on the ZPM's energy flow."

"No, those are crap," Rodney answered and handed him the laptop, "Do I really have to do this all on my own?"

Carson and Daniel stopped in their tracks and watched Rodney typing like a madman, while the other man was holding the laptop for him.

"That's Radek Zelenka," Carson said softly, "He's a genius, but Rodney never cuts him any slack."

Zelenka shook his head. "Rodney," he said with determination and shut the laptop, "Dr. Rush checked these calculations himself."

"Rush is an idiot," Rodney answered, "He doesn't have a say in this. Why do you even ask him for help? His department's the Stargate, and not my projects."

Zelenka rolled his eyes. Rodney noticed Daniel and Carson, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Great. You persuaded him." He came towards Carson to usher him onto the pedestal and to the chair. Carson looked hesitantly back at Daniel, then he breathed deeply. "So," Rodney said, "sit down."

Carson sat down as if the chair would bite him as soon as he touched it and then leant back. The device was activated. The backrest shifted back and the leg supports came up. Now, it looked more like a recliner. Carson had his hands clenched around the armrests and his eyes closed tightly.

"Whoa!" somebody uttered and Daniel looked towards the drone on ist examination table. It was glowing and vibrating – ready for attack.

"Carson," he said hastily and climbed the pedestal to stand beside the doctor. He put his hands on Carson's shoulders. "Relax," he said urgently. Zelenka mumbled a Czech curse when the drone jerked forward, then stopped. The scientists fled towards the walls as if they would protect them from the weapon. "No," Daniel said, "Calm down."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Gee, Carson, just-"

"Sh!" Daniel interrupted. "Carson," he said firmly, "Panic will activate the weapons. Relax."

Carson squeezed his eyes shut trying hard to calm down. Rodney said, "Think of your mother's lemon cake."

Daniel looked at him questioningly and Rodney shrugged. "He wouldn't shut up about it a week ago," he said and rolled his eyes. Daniel looked at the drone and was relieved to see that it was deactivated.

"Thank you," he said and Rodney shrugged. Daniel addressed Carson, "You're doing great."

"Okay?" Carson asked uncertainly, "What now?"

Daniel looked at Rodney. "What do you think?"

"Me?" Rodney asked, "I thought you were the genius from another reality."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Okay, we know that Ancient technology is operated by thought."

"Yes," Rodney said, "That is, if one has the gene."

Zelenka muttered, "Which isn't the case with you."

Rodney glared at him. "I heard that."

"Carson," Daniel said, "I want you to think of the Lost City."

Carson nodded but nothing happened.

"That worked … not," Rodney said.

"No," Daniel answered, "My fault. Carson, Ancients spoke Latin and maybe the information about the Lost City is protected by a code. Think _urbis perisse_."

Suddenly, the chair lit up and Carson opened his eyes. "Oh!" he said, staring at the ceiling. Daniel and Rodney followed his eyes. An astonished sound escaped Zelenka and all attendees stared at the hologram which had appeared over the chair.

Daniel stared at the image of the Milky Way above them and Rodney stepped next to him. "Wow!" he said.

"Dito," Daniel answered. The image of the Milky Way shrunk a little and Ancient letters lit up next to it.

"What does it say?" Carson asked.

Daniel concentrated on the letters. "Terra inde itneras … testamentum …" His eyes widened. "… Atlantis."

"Atlantis," Rodney repeated with a nod.

Carson shook his head. "But Atlantis … Atlantis doesn't exist."

"It's the Lost City," Daniel said breathlessly. He stared at Rodney in disbelief. "Atlantis."

Rodney turned to Zelenka. "Tape it."

Zelenka rolled his eyes, but he nodded and left to get a camera.

"Carson, hold on," Daniel said.

The doctor nodded. "That's fine. It's not that exhausting."

Rodney frowned. "Terra inde itneras. Testamentum Atlantis," he said, "means: From Earth … itneras … to reach the Ancients' bequest."

"Yes," Daniel nodded. Zelenka returned with a camera and started to film. All the scientists were now crowded around the chair's pedestal and following their conversation.

Rodney cleared his throat. "What does _itneras_ mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Daniel answered, "The word's non-existent."

"Maybe it's a typo," Rodney said. Daniel and Carson looked at him questioningly and Rodney shrugged. "What? So, they've built space ships and Stargates before dinosaurs existed, that doesn't mean that they're perfect. I mean, _I'm_ making typos all the time."

Carson rolled his eyes and Daniel answered, "I don't think that it's a typo."

"What do you think it is?" Carson asked curiously.

"Well, they could have done it on purpose," Daniel answered.

"Why?" Rodney asked, the word dripping with scepticism.

"I don't know, yet."

"Great."

The elevator rumbled to a stop and Daniel turned his head. Jack got out and seemed to be surprised by the mass of people gathered around the chair. He came toward them and the people let him through.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"The Ancients made a typo and now Dr. Jackson thinks that the secrets of the universe lie within it," Rodney answered. He got a dark glare from Daniel in answer.

Jack nodded. "Well, usually, Daniel's right with assumptions like that."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd say that." There was a subliminal reproach in his tone, Daniel realized with confusion.

Jack squinted his eyes in annoyance. "Lunch time," he said without acting on it, "Danny, you've got to be starving by now. Are you about done here?"

Zelenka shut off the camera. "Done."

Carson took that as a sign that he was allowed to get up. The hologram died and the doctor left the chair. As comfortable as he'd been a minute ago, he seemed relieved to be out of the device. Rodney sighed. "We should keep working."

Jack smiled at Daniel. "Twenty minutes won't hurt," he suggested. He grew serious. "I can see from here that you're having a headache. You need a break."

Daniel sighed deeply. "Yeah," he admitted, "okay."

At his questioning look Carson nodded, he was about ready for a break too.

"Dr. McKay?" he asked.

"I should keep working," the scientist said, shaking his head.

Carson suggested, "I'll bring our lunch to the lab. That way, you can work and eat."

Rodney nodded. "Don't forget-"

"That you're allergic to citrus," Carson interrupted Rodney. Rodney turned to face him and Carson smiled. "I know."

XXX

Daniel massaged his forehead, sitting in the mess hall at one of the tables and waiting for Jack, who had offered to fetch his meal for him. His thoughts still revolved around the word _itneras_. It didn't yield sense that the Ancients had integrated a senseless word into their database. He doubted that it was a mistake, the Ancients just didn't make mistakes in their records.

"Tylenol?" Jack asked, setting down a tray with two bowls of soup, two plates with salad and two glasses in front of Daniel. He pulled a small vial with tablets out of his trouser pocket.

Daniel couldn't help but smile. "You carry Tylenol around with you?"

Jack cleared his throat. "I always carry Tylenol with me, Danny. You … he kept having migraines."

Daniel looked up at Jack in astonishment, then when Jack answered his stare levelly, ducked his head shyly.

"That's … wow!"

"Your Jack …" He stopped, stirring his soup. Daniel knew what he'd wanted to ask.

"No, no. He's my best friend, dragging me to the mess hall when I need to eat and to the infirmary when I'm not feeling well … but he never carried a vial of Tylenol with him just in case."

"Your relationship's not like ours," Jack answered, poking his salad. Daniel nodded with a shrug. He tried the soup and noticed that not only did it taste good, but also how hungry he actually was.

For a couple of minutes, silence reigned.

"So … how did he die?"

Jack closed his eyes in pain, and Daniel shook his head. "I'm sorry. Sorry. I shouldn't have asked, I-"

"Ba'al killed him." Jack looked up at him.

Daniel shook his head. "Sorry. You don't have to-"

"It's only natural that you want to know, Danny. You're … you," Jack smiled, almost helplessly. He cleared his throat. "Before they drew the frontline around Earth, Danny was off world with a team on one of Ba'al's planets. We kept hearing rumours about Ba'al and Kalina forging an alliance and wanted to make sure if they were true. They got captured. Ba'al dialled Earth and set up the MALP we'd sent through with the team and …" Jack brushed a hand over his lips. "… they'd tortured them. Ba'al killed them while we were watching through the MALP, saying that we'd be next."

Daniel stared at Jack without saying a word. The general cleared his throat. "We sent a team. Until that moment, I was still hoping that everything had been a trick … but they brought back the … the bodies." Jack looked into Daniel's eyes. "He's dead."

"Sorry," Daniel said, just now realising that he hadn't told Jack before, "That's horrible."

Jack sighed. "Yeah," he nodded, "it is."

XXX

Carson put the plate with a sandwich down next to Rodney's keyboard, and the scientist glanced at him. "Thank you," he said.

Carson nodded. "You're welcome." He pulled a chair up beside Rodney to sit down and eat his own sandwich. "I'm really doing it for my own safety, you know. You can be a bit bitchy when you leave out a meal," he explained with a smile gracing his face.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Don't say it."

"Well, you always are," Carson added with a grin.

Rodney suppressed a smile. "It's so unbelievable that a guy like you, with no experience whatsoever with the Stargate, with no scientific background-"

"Medicine's science," Carson interrupted.

Rodney snorted. "… without a scientific background, has the Ancient gene. That's unfair."

Carson shrugged. Rodney bit off of the sandwich and sighed in relief when his rebelling stomach began to calm down at the prospect of nourishment on its way. Carson tipped his head. "What do you expect to find?"

Rodney look at him questioningly.

"In Atlantis," Carson explained.

"The solution to our problems," Rodney answered.

Carson rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know that. But what exactly?"

"No idea," Rodney sighed, glaring at text on his screen, "It could be everything. The Ancients were very resourceful."

"It's strange," Carson said, "that only a few people on Earth know that we're heading for a war."

Rodney didn't answer. Caron looked at him with serious, blue eyes. "But you'll find a way."

Rodney stopped, the sandwich half-way to his mouth. He looked at Carson who was concentrating on his sandwich. "You will," the doctor added.

Rodney cleared his throat. "You think so?"

Carson looked at him smiling brightly, and Rodney couldn't help but smile back.

"Sure," Carson said in affirmation, "You're a genius, right?" He slapped Rodney's shoulder before he got up, returning to his laptop. For some reason, Rodney was unable to find an appropriate cynical answer to that so he just muttered "Sure", wondering if the sandwich had been foul after all. His stomach felt kind of funny.

Carson sighed tiredly and concentrated on his computer and his books. Rodney put the rest of the sandwich on his plate and tried to concentrate on his work, but it was difficult for him. He looked to Carson. The doctor seemed focused on his work. Curiosity got the better of Rodney. "What are you working on?"

Carson threw him a glance over his shoulder. "I told General O'Neill that I could try and find a way to synthesize the Ancient gene."

Rodney's eyes widened in awe and he joined Carson at his table. "You can do that?"

"I don't know," Carson answered, "I can try, right?"

"Right," Rodney answered and leafed through the medical reference book that was lying on the table.

Carson put his hands on Rodney's to stop him. "Don't do that."

Rodney pulled his hand back and leant on the table. "So … you could make it possible for people not having the Ancient gene to use Ancient technology that requires the gene."

"Maybe," Carson cautioned, trying to make it seem as if he was engrossed in his research, but he knew just how bad Rodney wanted the Ancient gene. He could practically feel the vibes of excitement from the man next to him and stifled a smile.

"You'll need subjects for the test."

"Are you offering?" Carson asked and looked up at Rodney.

"Well, I …" Rodney crossed his arms and said casually, "If you don't find someone who wants to do it."

Carson smiled brightly, and Rodney was shocked when he realized that he was blushing. "I'm just saying," he muttered and turned away to head back to his table.

Carson marked his page with a pen and shut the book. He followed Rodney to his place and leant on the table with his forearms. "I didn't know you could be so heroic," he joked with a smile. He nudged Rodney with his shoulder.

Rodney looked at his screen and answered with indignation, "For science …"

"And here I was thinking that medicine isn't a science." For this Carson got a glare. He took it with a smile. Rodney looked in his eyes and suddenly, he realized just how close they were. Too close.

It made him nervous. He cleared his throat and got up to head for his white boards. "I have work to do," he said.

Carson sighed deeply, and ducked his head. "Sure," he said. He watched Rodney standing at his white board for a moment then he went to his table and picked up his book, notes and the laptop. "I'll go and work in my quarters for a while."

Rodney nodded in distraction. Carson left the laboratory as fast as possible. Only when he was gone, Rodney looked after him. He rubbed his forehead and tried to concentrate on his calculations, but his head was empty. Something was off, as if everything had shifted just a little bit, and something new clicked into place. He just didn't know what it was. Rodney sighed, he'd figure it out later, and now that Carson was done distracting him he could get some work done.

Only when Carson had arrived in his small quarters, he breathed a sigh of relief. He leant against the closed door and stared into nothing. "Crap," he mumbled. Rodney was arrogant, nerve-racking most of the time and his moods were unpredictable. But during the last two weeks, he'd often showed a softer side too, mostly whenever he'd left the laboratory to get something to eat with Carson, or whenever he'd had made progress with his research.

When that happened he was funny, communicative, and attentive. And Carson had fallen in love with this Rodney, a little. Only, he had no idea at all how Rodney was feeling about him.

And since they would work together for an undetermined amount of time, it wasn't a good idea to mention his feelings. But five minutes ago, he'd betrayed himself. And he had no idea how Rodney would react.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**5.**

The letters were drilling into his eyes, and he wondered whether it would be healthy to take a fourth Tylenol. When Carson had visited Daniel and Rodney hours ago, he'd dimmed the light in the laboratory to remind them that they had to take a break, too. With Rodney, it had worked.

His head was lying near the keyboard, and he was snoring softly. Daniel raised his eyebrows, wondering whether he should spare the scientist the terrible backache and wake him to send him to bed or whether he should just let him sleep in the uncomfortable position. His eyes then glided back to the video displayed on his computer screen. He'd stopped the video a while ago and was since then staring at the hologram above the chair.

"_Itneras_ …," he mumbled, trying to speed up his mind and to chase away the headache. He massaged his forehead and propped his head up on a hand.

The next thing he was aware of was a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around to face Carson.

"Daniel, it's three a.m.," Carson said, a hint of accusation colouring his voice. His hand automatically seized Daniel's wrist to take his pulse. The movement was so routine and natural on him that Daniel could only look at him dumbly. Carson looked up to him, grimacing in sympathy. "That bad?"

"You're able to tell that I have a headache by taking my pulse?"

"No," Carson grinned, "your forehead and your eyes are a dead give-away … migraine?"

Daniel nodded.

Carson sighed. "Go to bed. If it's not gone after a few hours of sleep, I'll take you to the infirmary and we'll find an appropriate pain medication."

Daniel knew that he had to sleep and got up. Rodney let out a particularly loud snore in that moment and the two other men turned in his direction. The scientist had changed his position while Daniel had dropped off.

A hand was pillowing his cheek, the other arm was hanging down limply. The only thing holding him on his chair seemed to be his chest which was jammed against the desk. His mouth was hanging slightly open, and a track of saliva was drying on his chin. Carson sighed, crossing his arms. "God, that's bloody hot," he joked, rolling his eyes. Daniel glanced at him, not sure whether Carson was just joking, or whether he was joking about a man he had feelings for. Carson sighed. "Where the hell did my taste in men go? I'm crazy."

That answered Daniel's question. Carson threw him a small nervous smile, and Daniel smiled back to assure him that he didn't have a problem with the fact that Carson was gay.

"Just go to sleep," the doctor said, "Go."

"What about Rodney?"

"I'll deal with him," Carson answered. He shrugged. "I'll tuck him in." He nodded towards the door. "There are guest quarters just down the hall. Number One's free."

Daniel nodded. "Okay."

XXX

Daniel woke up with a dry mouth and the nagging feeling that a truck must have hit him while he'd been asleep.

He groaned softly and buried his head in the cushion. The spartan guest accommodations were lit only weakly, but the soft light was doing its best to hurt his eyes. His head was aching even more than yesterday. For the first time, the thought occurred to him that the headache could be the consequences of the journey into an alternate reality. He knew entropic cascade failure, but maybe this was something they hadn't encountered yet. They really didn't know much about travelling through the mirror. Daniel sat up, and squinted to protect his eyes from the light. He put on his shoes, needing ten minutes to tie the laces. Or maybe, he was just having a really bad migraine.

When he entered the laboratory, Carson and Rodney were already there. Rodney was brooding in front of his screen, watching the video, and Carson was standing beside him, looking over his shoulder. He turned around to face Daniel and his greeting smile changed into a deep frown. "That bad?" he asked, worried. Rodney turned around, too.

"Worse," Daniel answered.

"Okay," Carson said, stepping towards him, "Infirmary."

XXX

The infirmary was small, too brightly lit for Daniel's sensitive eyes, but well equipped. The beds were separated by curtains. He could see doors leading to a laboratory, to the radiograph and into a storeroom. Carson had him sit on one of the beds and examined him briefly.

Then, he'd disappeared in the storeroom.

"Danny," Jack said in concern when he arrived in the infirmary and headed for his bed.

"Hey!" Daniel greeted him with a forced smile.

Jack crossed his arms. "Dr. Beckett called me, and told me that you're not feeling well."

"It's just a migraine," Daniel hastened to assure him. Then he sighed. "I hope." He looked at Jack. "Do you know something about the effects of mirror travel? This kind of symptoms … could the headache come from me travelling into an alternate universe?"

Jack shook his head. "Never heard of it. But I'll call the QMC and ask Dr. Lee about it later, just to be on the safe side."

"Entropic cascade failure?" Daniel asked.

"How?" Jack asked, "My … Daniel's dead." He cleared his throat and banned his grief from his brown eyes. "Besides, ECF's something others can see, too."

"Right," Daniel said softly. "Just a migraine, then," he smiled. He hoped so. In the last few years, they'd encountered far too many apparently harmless illnesses to not leave an uneasy flutter in his stomach. To distract himself, he asked, "What did you do yesterday?"

Jack leant against the wall. "Well, I visited the _Artemis_, the _Odin_ and the SGC to see how the dialling program is coming along. We want to be able to dial out faster than Ba'al dials in. It looks like we could make it. But Dr. Rush thinks that we can dial out only once before Ba'al will be able to dial in even faster. Unfortunately, he has a DHD at his disposal. That way, he can program the Stargate's dialling program far better than we can. Our experts are doing what they can, but at the end of the day, Ba'al has more knowledge about the 'Gate. He studied it, and the Ori are damn smart, too. Wherever they come from, they know at least as much about the 'Gate as the Ancients."

Daniel nodded cautiously. "But dialling once is enough to get to Atlantis."

"Once is enough to evacuate essential personal, too. The bosses want to dial the Alpha site instead of a city we know next to nothing about."

Daniel massaged his forehead. "You're telling me that we're doing all this for nothing."

"Maybe," Jack answered.

Carson joined them. "Okay. Take these." He handed Daniel a small cup with two pills in it. "They should do the trick. Take them and then go get something to eat."

"We'll get breakfast together," Jack answered.

Carson nodded his thanks, then he addressed Daniel. "I don't want to see you in the laboratory for the next half hour."

Daniel nodded reluctantly.

XXX

The mess hall was busy but Jack and Daniel found two seats at one of the tables in the back. Jack took care that Daniel filled his tray for three before he permitted him to sit down. Daniel had found a ballpoint pen in his trouser pocket and written the word _itneras_ in Ancient characters on a napkin.

He thoughtfully looked at it while he was eating. His eyes found Jack's and he propped his head onto a hand.

"Jack?" Daniel asked and the general looked up at him from his muesli, "In this reality, was … was I married?"

Jack put the spoon aside and rubbed his forehead. Daniel knew the gesture. It meant that Jack was getting nervous, an emotion his best friend wasn't prone to.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curiosity, I guess," Daniel shrugged, "I was married."

"Really?" Jack asked in surprise, "Who was the lucky girl?"

"Sha're … from Abydos."

"Kasuf's daughter?" Jack smiled. He shook his head. "She was already married when we arrived on Abydos. There were a few girls smitten with Daniel, but he never married one of them. He spent one year on Aybdos before he dialled Earth and returned. He brought proof for there being more than one Stargate out there."

Daniel frowend. "Wow! That's different."

"So, you were married, then?"

"She's dead," Daniel answered.

"I'm sorry."

Daniel nodded. Jack picked up his spoon, fiddling with it in thought, before he seemed to come to a decision. "You know, you … he … was with someone here."

Daniel smiled curiously. "Really?"

Jack nodded.

"Was it serious?" Daniel asked.

"More than that," Jack answered.

"With whom?"

Jack shrugged, a small smile playing around his lips. "I won't tell."

Daniel smiled. "And if I had a very interesting information about one of your people, on this base, would you tell me then?"

Jack thinned his lips, a playful expression gracing his features. "That depends on the information. Is it good?"

"Very good," Daniel answered.

"Well, let me hear it," Jack demanded.

Daniel leant towards him. "Carson has a crush on Rodney."

Jack's eyes widened. "No way."

"Way," Daniel laughed. His eyes caught on the napkin and he stilled. Suddenly, it made perfect sense. It wasn't a typo, it wasn't even a word at all.

"Oh, my God."

"What?" Jack asked, worried. Daniel stared at the napkin, then up to Jack. His mouth was opened, but no words were coming forth.

"What? Danny?" Jack asked.

Daniel got up. "Gotta go." He left the mess hall.

Jack called after him, "Would it be worth it to follow you?"

No answer.

XXX

"Got it!" Daniel said when he entered the laboratory and Rodney and Carson, still puzzling over the video, stared at him in surprise.

A smile spread on Carson's face. "Really?" he asked.

Rodney remained the sceptic. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Daniel answered, reaching one of the white boards.

He grabbed the pen and began to write on it in Ancient when Jack joined them. "What did I miss?" he asked.

Daniel shook his head. "You're just on time." He pointed to the word. "Look."

The three men obeyed. Daniel bobbed impatiently on his feet but, being the eternal teacher he was, he waited for them to solve the riddle themselves.

"_Itneras_?" Rodney asked slowly. Jack raised his eyebrows in question, a gesture, Daniel knew all too well from his best friend.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," Rodney answered in irritation, "it's a typo."

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

"Look," the archaeologist repeated in excitement. Silence descended while they did as he asked.

Finally, Rodney sighed. "Okay, that's just plain stupid."

"Rodney," Carson gently admonished and the scientist looked up at him.

"No, really. It's a typo. He's acting as if he found a code."

"Yes!" Daniel called, pointing at Rodney in triumph.

Jack asked hesitantly, "It's … a code?"

Daniel was writing on the board again and when he stepped to the side, they could see a new set of Ancient letters on it.

Rodney got up. "Oh, my God. Oh, that's … genius," he said enthusiastically, walking to the board to take a closer look. Carson and Jack exchanged a confused glance.

"Right," Daniel said, pointing to the new set of letters, "Who would search for something like this?"

"Who would even suspect a deeper meaning?" Rodney added.

"And even if they do …," Daniel said.

"… they would need and extensive knowledge about the Ancient's language to see it," Rodney said.

"Boys," Jack interrupted, "Just so you know, there are Goa'uld and Ori ships floating above Earth waiting to kill us. Just explain to me what you have found."

"The address," Rodney said.

Daniel explained, "The word _itneras_ doesn't mean anything. We thought it was a mistake. But when you reverse the letters themselves, they form new characters and those are making perfect sense."

"Numbers," Rodney said in excitement. He grabbed the pen from Daniel and wrote under the characters. "1, 5, 7, 12, 25, 27, 38," he read.

Jack's eyes widened. "An address. No, those are seven numbers. Shouldn't there be six-"

"The other Stargate's in another galaxy," Daniel explained, "We got it. Atlantis."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**6.**

"You're kidding me, right?" Rodney asked, staring at Jack in hurt disbelief. The general's hands were buried in his trouser pockets and he was looking at Rodney with his eyebrows raised.

He was standing at the window of the conference room in the SGC. Behind the window, a level under them, the embarkation room with the huge Stargate was situated. The fleece jackets of the four men were on the large conference table. After the _Artemis_ had brought them to the SGC thanks to the Asgard beaming technology, they'd gotten rid of the warm jackets. They had the address.

Now, they were about to decide who should go to Atlantis. Jack wanted to keep the group as small as possible since everybody was needed on Earth and they weren't expecting anything dangerous in Atlantis. The event horizon was shimmering behind the closed iris, throwing shadows at the rear wall of the 'Gate room. In twenty-four minutes the 'Gate would close. The only question was whether the scientists in the control room would be able to dial out faster than Ba'al could dial in. Jack had asserted his influence with the president and he'd agreed to give the journey to Atlantis priority over the evacuation.

"Doctor McKay," Jack started, but Rodney interrupted him rudely.

"No. I'm going with you to Atlantis. Don't you think that I won't. You need me."

Someone cleared his throat behind them and Daniel turned around. A man, smaller than Daniel, was standing there. He had almost shoulder-length salt and pepper hair and his dark eyes seemed tired but determined.

He was wearing glasses that were accentuating his stubbled cheeks and chin, but were hiding the dark circles under his eyes. When he spoke, Daniel could hear a strong, Scottish accent which was more distinctive than Carson's. "I'm sure the argument about who will go to Atlantis, and who won't is rather interesting, but General …," and he looked Jack in the eye with an expression dripping with contempt, "… we don't have all day. We can dial out in twenty-two minutes. You should be ready to step through by then."

Jack ignored the piercing intonation, looking at Daniel instead. "This is Dr. Nicholas Rush, our Stargate expert."

Daniel couldn't avoid hearing Rodney snort contemptuously. Jack ignored it. "He's writing the new dialling program. Doctor Rush, you know Dr. Jackson."

The Scotsman nodded. "Sure."

Jack stepped towards the scientist. "Are you sure that we'll be faster than Ba'al?"

"Yes," the man answered, looking straight at Rodney, "I'm the lead expert on the Stargate."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "And how did you plan on us coming back, Dr. Rush? I'm sure, the 'Gate will be in use when we want to dial home."

"A timer should help you to find the right time to try and dial in. You'll have a DHD at your disposal. That'll help and I'll write down what modification you have to make on the DHD, then you should be able to establish a wormhole faster than Ba'al can."

"We should be able or will we be able?"

Rush narrowed his eyes in irritation. "Trust my expertise, Dr. McKay. If you would have studied the 'Gate instead of working for the QMC and spending your time in Antarctica, you would know that I'm right."

"Alright," Jack interrupted the fight, "We'll be right there, Doctor Rush."

The other man nodded and left the conference room with one last glare towards Rodney.

"Arrogant Know-it-all," Rodney muttered, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Jack.

"Right, Doctor McKay, you're not like him at all," he said. Rodney crossed his arms. Sighing, Jack returned to topic. "I need Dr. Beckett," Jack said calmly, "because of his gift to operate the Ancient systems and I need Daniel because he's fluent with the Ancient language."

"I'm just as good at reading Ancient as Dr. Jackson is, plus I know everything there is to know about the Ancient technology, General. If you take me with you, you don't get just a translator but someone who actually knows what we're looking for. The only reason you want Dr. Jackson to accompany you is because he looks like your dead boyfriend."

The following silence was all encompassing. Daniel stared at Rodney, then Jack. All colour seemed to have fled from the general's face.

Carson gave Rodney a light push in the ribs. "Rodney," he hissed.

"What?" the scientist asked, "It's the truth."

Jack cleared his throat. "Dr. McKay, you will come with us," he said softly, "We'll meet in fifteen minutes at the 'Gate."

Rodney nodded contentedly and left the conference room. Carson cast an insecure look at Daniel, however, he followed the other man when Jack nodded at him. Daniel wanted to follow him but Jack said, "Danny, I wanted to tell you."

Daniel shook his head. "No. That's your personal life."

Jack stepped closer. "I swear, I-"

"Jack," Daniel interrupted with a shake of his head, "we don't have time for this." He smiled. "Everything's okay." He left the conference room, Rodney's words still ringing in his ears, and with the question on his mind what he was really doing in his reality.

XXX

It wasn't as if the thought repelled or disturbed him. Daniel had always considered himself a liberal person who wasn't only accepting and investigating other cultures but was also open to sub-cultures.

He was just a little surprised. Not because of himself, Daniel had flirted with his college roommate for a while although they'd never went beyond that, but because of Jack. Daniel wasn't the kind of guy who believed in drawers but, until now, Jack had never given him reason to believe that he was gay.

Daniel should know. Years ago, he'd given up any hope that Jack could be interested in him in that way.

Daniel stared at his alter ego's locker and brushed a thumb over the nameplate. Behind him, Rodney was complaining about uncomfortable shoes while Carson was trying to put on the equipment given to him in the correct order. Daniel opened the locker and looked inside. Uniforms were in it, lying properly on each other. Green on beige on black. Base uniforms were there, also. Blue and green. Civvies were lying in the shelf under them. Daniel recognized the white pullover he also had at home in his reality. Everything looked just like his locker. That had to mean … under his jeans, he found one of his journals. Sometimes, he wanted to write down something immediately before or after work. One of his journals was always in his locker – well hidden under his civvies.

Daniel took it and opened it, leafing through diary entries and stopping when he met a photo. Cassie, Jack and he himself on the steps of the porch behind Jack's house. He was sitting one step lower than Jack, leaning against his shoulder. Cassie was squatting behind Jack, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

They were smiling into the camera. Daniel turned the photo over.

_Uncle Jack, Uncle Daniel and me after moving in, summer 2004_

Daniel put the photo back and leafed to the last entry. A note slipped into his hand. Jack's handwriting was ignoring the predefined lines. The blue colour of the ballpoint pen was faded and the paper soft and dog-eared. Old.

_One more year, Danny._

Under the words a smiley. Carson's soft voice startled him.

"Daniel?"

He closed the book and looked at him.

"You okay?" Carson asked. He was wearing the full black mission equipment, even the vest, his backpack slung over one shoulder. Rodney was gone.

Daniel cleared his throat and nodded. "Fine."

"We have to leave," Carson said.

"Yeah," Daniel answered slowly, "sure. I'll be right there."

Carson nodded and left the room. Daniel sighed deeply, putting the notebook back, before he took the black uniform.

The thought wasn't repelling or disturbing him.

In fact, Daniel was a little envious.

XXX

The Stargate room was two levels high and besides the huge ring made of Naquadah, the only thing in it was a ramp leading up to the 'Gate. Daniel was standing at the foot of the ramp with Carson when the event horizon snapped shut. A new dial-in immediately started. On the ramp in front of Daniel and Carson, a MALP was standing, ready to evaluate the area for the team. The iris remained closed while the 'Gate was dialling. Daniel looked over his shoulder into the control room that was divided-off by a window. There, Dr. Rush was staring at a screen in concentration, ignoring Rodney who was wearing his black uniform and speaking intently to him. Jack, also in his mission gear, was watching the two with an expression bordering on amusement, while the technicians surrounding them chose to ignore the argument. Daniel breathed out, turning around to face the Stargate again. "We have to be faster," he mumbled. Carson nodded. The third Chevron engaged.

Carson stared at the 'Gate. "I have a bad feeling."

The fourth Chevron engaged.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know," Carson answered. Chevron five engaged. "It's just a bad feeling."

Rodney and Jack joined them. Rodney was carrying an opened laptop in his arms. He seemed breathless with excitement, and Daniel also tensed up. It wasn't just the tension from the hope that they were dialling faster than Ba'al, it was also excitement about the upcoming journey. Atlantis. Chevron six engaged.

Rodney looked at his laptop screen and nodded. "Energy levels look promising. No spikes."

"How are you powering the 'Gate?" Daniel asked, "To dial the Asgard homeworld, we needed an external energy booster."

Rodney nodded. "Yes, we have a device developed by the Asgard. Another reality gave it to us in an exchange," he explained and looked at the 'Gate.

Chevron seven engaged.

"We'll make it," Rodney smiled. Chevron eight engaged and the 'Gate opened with a _kawoosh_ behind the iris.

Jack turned to the control room. "Good job, guys," he said. Doctor Rush accepted the praise with a hardly noticeable nod, but then concentrated on the controls again. The MALP was steered towards the event horizon and the iris opened.

"_Let's wait and see what's on the other side,"_ Rush suggested via the intercom and the robot vanished into the event horizon. Rodney looked at the laptop in his hands and Jack peeked over his shoulder.

"_We've got daylight,"_ Rush said. Daniel grew curious and stopped on Rodney's other side. The screen was displaying a big, bright room. Directly in front of the camera, stairs were leading towards a second level and a window front. A blue sky could be seen through the glass. The camera of the MALP swung around and found corridors that led more deeply into the city. The floor was red and the walls kept in a neutral gray. Color elements - also red - on the walls warmed the atmosphere. In the walls and in some of the columns were water elements installed: small waterfalls and aquaria without fish in them. Altogether, the architecture was plain and practical, it was Ancient.

"Wow!" Carson said, "I was on the _Artemis_ and beneath the ice of Antarctica, but this …"

The camera sweeped the room but there was no sign of life.

"Looks abandoned," Rodney said.

"_The warmth sensors aren't picking up any life signs,"_ Rush added.

"Let's go then," Jack nodded, pulling his cap into his eyes. His hands found the MP hanging from his shoulder.

Rodney looked at the stopwatch. "We have thirty-six minutes and thirty-two seconds left." He put the watch into his trouser pocket. Daniel went up the ramp next to Jack.

The general glanced at him. "You okay?"

Daniel nodded. "Yeah." And he meant it. The headache had abated to a dull, bearable pain and he was about to set foot into the Lost City of the Ancients. In another reality … but nevertheless …

Jack's voice betrayed his insecurity. "I mean-"

"I know what you mean," Daniel answered, smiling in assurance, "I'm fine, Jack. Really." He entered the event horizon.

XXX

He entered Atlantis. Daniel loved it at first sight. It was everything he imagined and he hadn't even left the 'Gate room, yet.

Jack was looking around, the weapon ready, but at ease. They didn't expect any residents. The city was called "lost" for a reason. Carson let out an astonished "Wow!" when he joined them, looking around. Rodney was the last one arriving, however, he immediately stuck his hand into the event horizon. They wanted to leave the 'Gate open the full thirty-eight minutes. Rodney waited until Rush's voice sounded over the radios, _"We blocked the event horizon."_

He pulled his hand out and stopped next to Daniel. "Well, one thing is for sure: They had taste."

Daniel nodded. Jack took the stairwell towards the big window. "Look," he said and the others followed him. An ocean stretched in front of the window. No landmass could be seen. The sun was reflected by the gentle waves hitting the piers of the city. The city itself was gigantic. They were standing high up in one of the many towers surrounding them. Glass fronts were shimmering in the sun and only gave an idea of how many unexplored rooms were waiting here. The city was beautiful, looking like one of the modern metropolises on Earth with their skylines, and Daniel would have given everything for a little more time here. With a sidelong glance, Daniel saw an area which seemed to be a control room a couple of steps away. The equipment was standing there mutely, covered by sheets, waiting for its creators' return. Daniel hoped that it would be content with them.

"Is the whole planet covered by water?" Carson asked.

Rodney pulled a face. "Not likely." He turned away. "Let's turn on the devices."

Carson nodded, following Rodney towards the control room. Jack activated his radio. "Looks secure. We'll search for ZPMs and other technology and dial home as soon as we modified the DHD."

"Got it," Rodney said, pointing to a waist high table in front of him he'd freed of the protective foil.

Daniel joined him. The 'Gate's symbols were engraved on the oversized buttons. Beside it, a screen was installed. The table and the other devices were of bright orange, which contrasted with the red floor. The Ancients were known for their esthetic technology. He admired them for it. His fingers traced the origin symbol.

Rush asked, _"Tell me about it."_

Jack's answer was curt. "I'll give you a slideshow later."

Daniel could imagine how Rush was feeling – left behind on Earth – and activated his radio. "The city's huge. Surrounded by water." He hesitated for a second. "Beautiful," he finished. Rush didn't answer.

"No, not that one," Rodney sighed and pointed out a device in the room's corner, "Try that one."

Carson unpacked the device and touched it. The control fields came on. Rodney started carefully and concentratedly to operate them. Carson watched him in fascination. Daniel left the DHD, approaching a narrow transition which led into a divided off room. It seemed to be the equivalent of General Hammond's office - which was Jack's now - and Daniel could imagine the city's leader sitting behind the desk, delegating his people.

He took one step towards the office, but stopped on the bridge, putting a hand on the cool metal banisters. His eyes went to the open 'Gate and he smiled.

"Is it what you thought it would be?" Jack asked softly and Daniel smiled at him.

"More."

Jack swallowed, avoiding his eyes and looking at the 'Gate. He seemed to be embarrassed.

"What is it?" Daniel asked in concern.

Jack shrugged. "That smile," he answered. Daniel ducked his head.

"Sorry," Jack said.

"It's okay," Daniel answered.

"Got it!" Rodney called and the two men joined him and Carson. Rodney was looking at a holographic screen, touching one of the whitely shining buttons on the control unit and nodded slowly. Carson curiously tapped one of the buttons. "Don't do that," Rodney snapped. Carson crossed his arms.

"Where to?" Jack asked.

"The ZPMs …," Rodney said, calling up what seemed to be a blueprint of the city. It looked like a faulty star. "… are on the north- and south piers of the city." He pointed them out.

Daniel nodded. "The third's in the city's centre," he added, pointing to the signal.

"Yes," Rodney answered. "Right …" He called up a new blueprint showing the city from the side. He pointed at the highest tower. "We're here. The ZPM's ten levels below us."

"Where's the elevator?" Jack asked.

"We can't take it with us," Rodney answered.

Carson frowned. "Why?"

Rodney rolled his eyes. "The city needs it. The Stargate needs it. We're taking the two ZPMs from the piers with us, but we can't take the one in the centre. Not if we want to be able to dial out. Besides, we'll need it if we come back some day."

"Okay," Jack nodded in understanding, "two are better than none. What about weapons?"

Rodney breathed out in irritation. "I'm doing what I can, General, but I'll need a while to read through the log."

"Okay," Jack answered, by now used to Rodney's curt ways, "Daniel and me will get the ZPMs. You'll read, and work on the DHD. Doctor Beckett will help you."

Rodney nodded his consent.

"Good. If there's a problem, we'll radio you, Doctor McKay."

"You better," he answered.

"Let's go."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**7.**

It was difficult for Daniel not to enter all the rooms he passed by on his way to retrieve the ZPM.

"_Just keep on going straight ahead, Dr. Jackson,"_ Rodney said impatiently and Daniel was glad that the scientist had found a possibility to read their life signals.

It was easier to find the piers that way. As he passed a window front, Daniel stopped to take in a breathtaking look over the city. When they'd found Atlantis in his reality, he had to go there. It was large enough to become a life's work.

"_Dr. Jackson, are you alright?"_ Rodney asked.

Daniel activated his radio. "Yes. I was just …" He stopped speaking and moved on. His headache had come back with a vengeance and he grimaced, massaging his forehead with a hand.

"_Got it,"_ Jack said, _"It's here. It's inside a … box. I can see it, but I can't reach it."_

"_Are there any control elements? Maybe I can open it from here,"_ Rodney said.

Daniel tuned out the dialogue, leaning against a wall. He closed his eyes, groaning softly. When he opened his eyes again, everything was slightly blurred. "Okay," he mumbled, "something's wrong." He swallowed a wave of nausea. Then he left the support of the wall. He had to go on. The sooner he had the ZPM, the sooner they would return to Earth and the sooner he could return into his reality and find out what was wrong with him.

He stumbled over his own feet, staggering against a wall when the pounding behind his forehead got stronger.

The last thing he heard was Rodney's rebuking voice. _"Dr. Jackson, just go on. We're kinda limited in our time." _

Everything went black.

XXX

"Daniel?" Somebody was holding his wrist and he opened his eyes carefully. Carson was kneeling beside him, looking at his watch. He was sweaty and panting.

"_Dr. Beckett?"_ Jack's worried voice caused Carson to let go of Daniel's wrist and activate his radio.

Before he could say something, Daniel tapped his knee. Carson smiled in relief. "He's coming around, General. Don't you worry."

Jack decided to stay sceptical. _"I should come."_

"_No,"_ Rodney answered, _"General, I need you in the control room. You have to activate something for me."_

Daniel activated his radio with trembling hands. "I'm fine, Jack."

The General answered with a clearly doubtful _"Okay"_. Daniel carefully straightened up with Carson's help, leaning against the pleasantly cool wall. Carson offered him his bottle and Daniel took a couple of sips. He felt better as soon as the dry feeling in his mouth had been washed away. "How long was I out?" Daniel asked.

"Long enough for me to run over here." Carson was still a bit out of breath. "About fifteen minutes."

"You were fast," Daniel said with awe.

"Yeah, I'm surprised by my performance, too. And Rodney found a shortcut," Carson smiled. Then he became professional. "Are you experiencing any dizziness? Nausea?"

Daniel shook his head. "Just a migraine," he answered.

"What happened?" Carson asked.

"I'm not sure," Daniel answered, "But the headache suddenly got stronger and I … just collapsed."

"You seem to be okay, now. Steady pulse," Carson said, standing up. He reached out a hand for Daniel. "C'mon. We gotta get your ZPM and head back towards the 'Gate room."

Daniel took his hand and stood up, staggering slightly.

"Are you okay?" Carson asked in worry and Daniel nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He made a few insecure steps and smiled. "It's getting better." He took a last sip of water before he gave Carson the bottle. The doctor put it into Daniel's rucksack. They went on.

"Almost there," Daniel said. They turned a corner and were now in a corridor that was lined by a window front on one side. Behind it, the city and the open sea could be seen. Every time Daniel looked out the windows, he was in awe by the sheer size of Atlantis.

Carson looked out the window while they walked alongside it. "Lovely, don't you think?" he asked.

Daniel nodded. "This city was built before Rome."

"Tell you what: If the military decides to come back here and they're looking for a doctor …" Carson shrugged. "I'd do it."

"That's good," Daniel said, "I wanted to contact your alter ego. And ask him to work for us."

Carson smiled. "He'll like that …" He frowned. "Just don't let him sit in the chair. I almost killed two people in a helicopter."

XXX

The ZPM had been in a protective enclosure on a small balcony. The salty sea air brushed through Daniel's hair and actually managed to soothe his migraine a little. He needed a moment before he'd managed to remove the ZPM from its place. Daniel brushed his fingers over the smooth surface of the cylindrical energy source before he packed it into his rucksack. When he'd taken it out of its place, the orange crystals had stopped glowing. Carson grabbed his radio. "We got it and we're heading back towards the 'Gate room now."

Rodney answered, _"Okay."_

Jack added, _"Dr. McKay's already working on the DHD's modification. There's a window of opportunity in five minutes, but we won't make it. We're dialling out in approximately forty-three minutes. At that time, the 'Gate on Earth should be between two wormholes."_

Daniel shouldered his rucksack and grimaced when he realized just how heavy the ZPM was. "Let's go then," he told Carson.

XXX

Nicholas Rush was nervous. He was staring at the numbers on the white board he'd installed in a corner of the control room.

The unrest around him didn't distract him and nobody dared to disturb him out of his thoughts. Everyone was focused on the many computers around them and the data they fed them. Only once, they had managed to dial faster than Ba'al.

Since the connection to Atlantis had been cut, their life once again was ruled by the dial-ins of the Goa'uld. But Nicholas had to improve the dialling program one more time. He just had to. Not only was Colonel Lorne expecting it from him, but he himself was also. The Stargate shut down, immediately starting a new dialling sequence.

"Atlantis?" Walter Harriman asked nervously and Rush looked at his watch.

"Maybe. It depends on how fast they were able to get their hands on the ZPMs and if Dr. McKay's as good as he always says he is."

"The iris, Doctor?"

"Stays closed," Rush answered, "until we get a GDO code. General's orders." He picked up his laptop and, once more, went through the instructions he'd given McKay.

He nodded to himself. If McKay would follow his instructions, Atlantis should be able to dial in faster than Ba'al. The noise of the 'Gate opening behind the iris barely pulled Nicholas from his calculations. He was used to it. A warning tone from Harriman's computer, however, made him forget the laptop. "What was that?" he asked sharply.

Harriman frowned, looking up at the Stargate and then back down on his screen. "Sir, the diagnostics program detected a problem."

"A problem?" Rush shoved Harriman, with his chair, aside and pulled up the diagnostics program. "What's that?" he asked softly, staring at the numbers running through a window in the middle of the screen.

"Sir?" Harriman asked uncertainly and the other techs stopped their work, too, "What should we do?"

"Leave me alone," Nicholas answered brusquely, pulling up another window of the diagnostics program. "Oh my God," he mumbled, cold panic lacing his voice, "Oh … no, no! No!" He typed orders while the others were watching him helplessly. The computer ignored him.

"What's going on?" Sgt. Siler asked softly and Harriman answered, "No idea. But whenever Rush reacts that way … it can't be good."

XXX

"Are you okay?" Jack asked with a worried face when Daniel and Carson entered the 'Gate room and Daniel nodded.

He seemed a little pale and tired therefore Jack didn't really believe him.

"Yeah."

Carson headed up the stairs towards the control room to join Rodney who was buried in the Atlantis version of the DHD with the upper part of his body, muttering obsceneties about Rush's orders. Daniel looked at his watch. "When are we going to dial out?"

"There's a window in …" Jack looked at the stop watch. "… thirteen minutes."

"Will that be enough time?"

Jack nodded. "McKay thinks he'll be done within the next few minutes."

Daniel looked at the motionless 'Gate, putting down his rucksack to relieve his back. Jack put a worried hand on his arm. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

Daniel smiled in assurance. "Just a migraine."

"We shouldn't have taken you with us."

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think that it's got something to do with the 'Gate travel. I think it's got something to do with the mirror."

Jack gently squeezed his arm in reassurance and smiled. He turned away.

"Jack," Daniel said an the general turned back around to face him, "I didn't tell you how sorry … I am for his death."

Jack frowned. "Of course, you did."

Daniel shook his head an stepped closer to Jack to speak softly. "No, I mean … I'm sorry for … _your_ loss."

Jack swallowed, avoiding his eyes. He cleared his throat. "My loss …," he nodded. He threw Daniel a helpless smile. Daniel put a hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack took a deep breath and clenched his hands to fists, then he shook his head and pulled Daniel into a sudden embrace. One arm wrapped itself around Daniel's hip, pulling him closer, while the other hand buried itself in his short hair. Jack nuzzled his cheek against Daniel's temple. Daniel hesitated for a moment, uncertain how he should react, then he wound his arms around Jack's chest. He and Jack had hugged during their friendship, but not very often.

It nevertheless felt different, somehow more intimate, and Daniel closed his eyes. Jack tightened the embrace briefly before he released him and turned away in clear embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Daniel said quickly.

Jack sighed, still avoiding his eyes. "We should go and see what McKay's doing."

Daniel accepted Jack's obvious wish to not talk about it anymore.

"Okay."

XXX

The Stargate opened and McKay let out a triumphant noise. "We've got a wormhole," he said.

Jack smiled at him. "Good job, Doctor." He got up of the steps where he'd been waiting with Daniel and stepped towards the 'Gate.

He entered his iris code and then pulled the sleeve of his green jacket over the GDO again. "We should go."

Rodney nodded, coming down the stairs with Carson. Daniel put on his rucksack while Carson preferred to keep his in his hand. Rodney glanced longingly back to the control room. "General-"

"We'll come back, Dr. McKay. As soon as we solved our problem."

Rodney nodded and then made his determined way towards the 'Gate, a big grin on his lips. "We will."

Carson frowned. "Since when are you Mr. Optimist?"

"Well," Rodney answered, standing in front of the event horizon, "we have the ZPMs. What can go wrong, now?"

"McKay," Jack cautioned, "don't jinx it."

Rodney shrugged him off. "This was a cakewalk."

Jack gestured towards the 'Gate in impatience and Rodney left the city.

"He's a pain in the ass," Jack mumbled, following him with Carson and Daniel in tow.

When he exited the 'Gate, he slammed into Rodney's back and cursed. "McKay, move your ass. Someone could …" He stopped when it hit him that Rodney was holding his hands up and that Carson and Daniel were, too.

He looked over Rodney's shoulder to where the control room should be and groaned when, instead, he saw Ba'al standing there with his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. Ba'al's human host was handsome with dark eyes, black hair and a striking face. Although he was built rather slim, Ba'al radiated an authority even Jack had to recognize. Out of all the Goa'ulds they had fought against over the years, Ba'al was the smartest.

It wasn't advisable to underestimate him. Sometimes, Jack thought it surreal that their most threatening enemy was nothing more than a big worm living in a human host. Jaffa were standing around Ba'al, their weapons pointed at the Ta'uri. They were wearing the typical Jaffa uniform consisting of protective metal pieces and a coat of chain-mail. Ba'al preferred a simpler style, wearing a dark sleeveless top made of leather and dark trousers which were put into his black boots.

Behind Ba'al, his throne was standing on a pedestal. The artificial light of the lamps was mirrored in the simple, black walls of the room.

"Damn it, McKay," Jack said, "what did I tell you?"

Rodney sighed. "That's so unfair."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**8.**

Daniel grimaced in pain when he was forced to his knees. Behind him, a Jaffa roughly took his rucksack. The bag joined Carson, Rodney and Jack's in front of Ba'al's feet. The Goa'uld still hadn't spoken, but was looking at them with a smug grin.

Finally, he came a little closer. His voice sounded a bit distorted, a characteristic the Goa'ulds couldn't escape from. And that was one of the things that let their followers think, the Goa'uld were gods.

"I must admit, I'm surprised by you just appearing everywhere I go."

Jack pasted on a grin. "Well, we didn't expect to come by today, I promise."

Ba'al addressed a Jaffa standing guard near the door. "Bring her."

The warrior nodded and left the room with quick steps. Ba'al scrutinized his prisoners. "Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"I'm a general," Jack said, "I got a promotion."

Ba'al laughed before he turned to Rodney. "Dr. McKay." Then he looked at Carson. "A new face."

Carson stared at Ba'al, fear in his eyes and clear on his face. He couldn't know much about him but Daniel was sure that he knew that Ba'al was the one besieging Earth.

"Your name?" Ba'al asked.

"I …" Carson swallowed deeply, looking at Rodney helplessly. Ba'al pulled a displeased face and seized a handful of Carson's short hair, forcing him to look at him.

"I'll get the answer. One way …" He raised his free hand, showing Carson his golden glowing hand device. "… or another."

The doctor stared at the device in fear. "Carson Beckett."

Ba'al gave him a smile while Carson swallowed, trying to look into the Goa'uld's eyes with determination. Finally, Ba'al let him go and Carson immediately ducked his head. Unconsciously, he pulled up his shoulders protectively. Jack and Daniel exchanged a look. Carson shouldn't be here. None of them. How had Ba'al managed to capture them?

Ba'al stopped in front of Daniel and the archaeologist looked up to him. Surprise was clearly written on Ba'al's face while he was scrutinizing Daniel. Then he narrowed his eyes furiously, grabbing Daniel's sleeve. He dragged him to his feet. "What kind of trick is this?" he asked angrily. Daniel didn't answer but kept looking at him stubbornly. Ba'al let him go so suddenly that Daniel fell back on his knees. Ba'al stared at one of the Jaffa nearby. "Jaffa, kree!"

The man nodded anxiously and ran from the room. Ba'al stared at the four Ta'uri. "How is that possible? I killed you," he said.

Jack shrugged, a cynical smile curling his lips. "Magic," he answered. Ba'al backhanded him. Carson winced and Daniel hastily put a calming hand on his arm. Ba'al waited until Jack had wiped the blood off his lip and was looking up at him again.

"Tell me how this is even possible."

When Jack stayed silent, Ba'al extended his hand and a Jaffa handed him his staff weapon hastily. Ba'al grabbed Daniel's arm, dragging him to kneel in front of Jack, his weapon pointed at Daniel's head. "Tell me or he dies," Ba'al hissed, activating the weapon, "again."

Jack's dark eyes stared at Daniel in fear. He swallowed and Daniel could see that he was hesitating. The archaeologist shook his head. "Jack, don't …"

Ba'al pushed the weapon into his back, hard, and he cut off his warning.

"He came through a gate," Jack said softly and Daniel closed his eyes.

"A gate?" Ba'al asked and Jack added, "From an alternate reality."

The weapon hit Daniel's back anew and he grimaced in pain.

"Explain."

A woman answered, "An alternate reality exists parallel to our universe. There are millions of them. The Ancients developed a gate through which you can travel between the realities."

The four prisoners and Ba'al turned their heads in the direction of the door. A woman was standing there. Her fair hair was put up and plaited artistically. She wore a bright dress which hid her slim figure, but managed to accentuate it at the same time. The green eyes were cold, matching the unemotional smile on her pretty face. "A technology the Goa'uld don't know," she added snidely and her warm voice was at odds with her cool appearance. "I'm surprised that the Ta'uri know it."

Ba'al stepped up to her and Daniel was surprised to actually see him indicating a bow. The Goa'uld were posing as gods in front of their slaves and warriors. Ba'al taking a bow meant a lot since he was one of the proudest of his kind. "Kalina," he said, "as you can see, our plan was a success."

"I see it," she answered, walking past Ba'al as if he didn't exist. Her attention was on the four humans. Daniel knew that she had to be the Orici. His and Jack's eyes met. The general was just as surprised as he was. Kalina focused on them only briefly, then she went to the rucksacks. A Jaffa hurried to open one of them and presented it to her. Kalina took a look inside, then she carefully got the ZPM out. "The Ta'uri seem to know so much more than the Goa'ulds." She looked at Ba'al. "That's Ancient technology. An almost inexhaustible energy source." She stared at Jack. "That can only mean one thing. They found the Ancient base."

Silence descended.

Jack cleared his throat. "So what? Did we win a prize for that?"

XXX

The cell door fell shut.

"I was expecting at least a cell for myself!" Jack called after the Jaffa who had brought them here, then he pulled his cap off. Daniel leant against the wall next to the bars, his arms crossed.

Carson was standing next to him, looking at each of the other men uncertainly. The cell was small with black walls, and only illuminated by a light element on the opposite corridor wall. The door mechanism was directly beneath it. They could try to stick their arms out of the cell to reach it, but they didn't have to. The corridor was too broad, they would never reach it. Rodney was walking around restlessly. "This is a nightmare."

"Hey, I don't like it either," Jack answered, "But we're here." He looked at Carson with a calming smile on his lips, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And we'll get out of here."

Rodney crossed his arms, looking at his three fellow prisoners. "How did he do that? We dialled Earth."

"You're the expert," Jack answered.

"No," Rodney answered, "Dr. Rush's the expert."

"That sounded different when we were still earth bound," Jack said. Rodney glared at him.

Daniel rubbed his tired eyes. "Okay. Kalina knows a lot about the Ancients."

"All the Ori do," Jack answered.

"And the Ancients built the Stargates." Daniel shrugged. "I'm sure she can manipulate it."

Rodney snorted. "Or Dr. Rush messed up somehow."

Carson cleared his throat. "What will happen next?"

"We wait," Jack answered, "But don't count on them being friendly."

Carson stared him, frightened. Then he passed by Rodney into a corner of the cell and sat down on the floor. He supported his head with a hand and stared at the floor. Rodney looked at him pityingly. Jack stepped up to Daniel, putting a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

Daniel nodded. "Headache," he said. Then he sighed deeply. "Jack, you know what Ba'al will do now, right? He saw how you were reacting back there."

Jack rubbed his forehead and then ran a frustrated hand through his grey hair. "I guess."

"You can't tell him anything. Even if he's killing me."

Jack pressed his lips together, avoiding Daniel's eyes. Daniel ducked a little to be able to look at him. "Promise me," he said softly.

"Danny, I can't."

"You can," Daniel answered, "You are General Jack O'Neill. I'm not even … him. It would be stupid …"

He stopped when Jack placed a hand on the back of his neck.

"You are him, Danny. You look like him and you speak like him …" He stared into Daniel's eyes and Daniel became flustered at the mass of emotions he saw in them. Jack pulled him closer and Daniel thought for a moment that he would kiss him on the lips. Instead, Jack dropped a tender kiss on his forehead. "Danny," he whispered, "I have to bring you back to your Jack." He breathed in deeply, before he suddenly turned away.

Daniel watched Jack heading for the opposite side of the room and sitting down and followed him. He sat down next to him and, a little hesitantly, took his hand which was resting on the ground between them. "Thanks," he said softly, "But don't do it."

Jack was silent and Daniel rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes in exhaustion. Rodney stopped next to Carson. For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to say nothing at all, then he seemed to give himself a mental push. "You okay?" he asked.

Carson looked up to him. "I'm facing imminent death."

Rodney squatted down. "That's … just wait for it, we'll escape."

"You don't understand," Carson answered, upset, "I'm not good in things like this. I'm not one for adventure. I …"

"Hey," Rodney interrupted him, "you've been nothing but great until now."

Carson looked at him in surprise. Rodney avoided his eyes, as if he was embarrassed.

Carson set to say something but then he shook his head.

"What?" Rodney asked.

"Nothing," Carson answered, "just … thanks."

XXX

Carson massaged his temples. "What's taking so long?" he asked and Jack stopped himself from shrugging. He would have woken up Daniel who was resting his head on Jack's shoulder, asleep. Not too long ago, he'd been sitting upright leaning against the wall, but in his sleep he'd slipped aside until he was leaning on Jack.

Rodney was sitting beside Carson, staring at his trembling hands. "Hypoglycemia … oh God, I need food … soon."

Jack rolled his eyes. He addressed Carson. "It's an interrogation technique. Let them wait so that they can imagine just how bad it will be."

Carson nodded his understanding, clasping his hands. They were trembling, too, but for a whole other reason. Steps echoed in the dim corridor and Jack nudged Daniel awake. He sat up, immediately alert. Jack got up when two Jaffa stopped in front of the cell. Both of them were black and bald, one was larger than the other one. Ba'al's golden emblem was sparkling on the forehead of the bigger one, while the other was carrying it merely tattooed into the skin. Jack knew that he was standing in front of Ba'al's first prime. They had already met. Daniel stood up and stepped next to him. "Teal'c," he said, surprised. It was strange to see Teal'c fighting for the Goa'uld. In Daniel's reality, he was a part of the rebellion against them for so long now. The giant looked at him in surprise, then he disguised it with a furious expression. Daniel ducked his head.

Teal'c seemed to want to ignore him, focusing his dark eyes on Jack instead. "You, come with us."

"Well, all you needed to do was ask nicely," Jack said with a false smile, waiting for the Jaffa to open the cell door. Teal'c grabbed his arm tightly and Jack smiled at Daniel in assurance. "Be right back."

The door slammed shut and Daniel pressed against the bars to watch them go.

"Teal'c?" Rodney asked.

Daniel rested his forehead against the cool bars. "In my reality, he's on my team. He's fighting against the Goa'uld."

"Seriously?" Rodney asked.

"He's my friend." He turned around to face Carson and Rodney. "We could use that. We could try to make him see our point."

"Are you nuts?" Rodney asked, "He looks like he could kill me with only one hand."

Daniel smiled cynically. "He could." He sighed. "But he's intelligent. He doesn't believe in the Goa'uld. He just needs allies."

Carson perked up. "Could you do it? Talk to him?"

"You are nuts, too," Rodney said, "That guy's evil with a capital E."

"He's a slave," Daniel answered, upset. He massaged his hammering head, stumbling when dizziness hit him.

"Daniel?" Carson got up and came towards him. He seized one of Daniel's wrists, taking his pulse. Daniel leant against the bars. "Is it getting worse?" Carson asked softly and Daniel nodded. Carson helped him to the back wall and Daniel sat down. He leant against the wall. "You're exhausted," Carson said, "Get some sleep."

A short time later, Daniel had actually fallen asleep. Carson sighed, looking at Rodney who was sitting on Daniel's other side.

"I'm confused. I have no idea what's wrong with him. I know no illness that could cause these symptoms in such a short time. But then, I don't know much about alien illnesses." He smiled helplessly.

"Could he be contagious?" Rodney asked.

"Don't worry," Carson answered, "if he is, you're already infected."

"Funny," Rodney answered.

XXX

Jack stumbled when Teal'c dragged him around a corner.

"Teal'c, huh?" he asked, "Is your job paid good?"

Teal'c didn't answer but dragged him further along the corridors. Jack heard the steps of the other Jaffa behind him. Teal'c stopped in front of a red door and pushed the mechanism on the wall. The door glided open silently and Teal'c pushed Jack into a room that was half as big as the 'Gate room. It was empty, adorned by a large panorama window on the back wall, which offered a view on Earth and the fleet of Earth ships. They were on a ship. Jack shuddered when he realized, that they were much closer to Earth than the other Goa'uld and Ori ships. In weapon's range. He was just wondering why the system lord didn't act on it. Ba'al was standing in front of the window, his hands clasped behind his back. Jack was led into the room a couple of steps further and then forced on his knees. Ba'al noticed Jack's frightened look out the window.

"We are currently in orbit around your planet. We're cloaked. I developed the new cloak myself, actually. I'm sure you can see that I could attack your fleet. Why am I not doing it?"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Because you're a coward?" he asked.

Teal'c hit him with the staff weapon but Ba'al laughed, shaking his head. "In fact, I'm currently looking for something." He turned back to the window and looked down on Earth. "I know that somewhere down there is a mysterious Ancient base."

"Hm," Jack said, "never heard of it."

"You're a bad liar. My sources tell me that it exists. I want to find it."

Jack sighed. "I would help you if I could. Really."

"In the base, there is a chair. That chair can help you to fight off any attacks on Earth. Tell me where it is."

"Uh … no," Jack answered.

"I must admit that I'm impressed. You managed to modify your dialling device to be able to open the Stargate faster than I could. Where have you been?"

Jack stayed quiet.

"Where did you get the Ancient energy sources?" Ba'al asked. Jack stared out the window and stayed silent. Ba'al smiled and nodded at Teal'c. "Bring them."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**9.**

Evan Lorne looked through the conference room's large window down to the Stargate and bobbed up and down on his feet. He was a little overtaxed and nervous and tired. But he had to show strength since now, that General O'Neill was absent, he and Kawalsky were in charge of the SGC and QMC. The Stargate was deactivated and without the constant shimmering, which had been thrown against the back wall of the 'Gate room, the room seemed to be strangely empty.

General O'Neill and the three other men had been due hours ago. And now, Earth had a whole new problem to chew on.

Evan sighed. "Explain it to me like you would explain it to someone who didn't study in Oxford."

Nicholas Rush sat in one of the chairs behind him, rubbing his forehead before he brushed his long hair back with a hand. Evan could see his reflection and he knew that they were in trouble. Rush seemed to be beaten. That almost never happened.

"Ba'al infected our 'Gate with a virus. We can't dial out. Our Stargate is useless. "

Evan turned around to face Rush. "All the addresses are … what? Lost?"

"No. But …" Rush sighed. "Our software's destroyed."

"I get it," Evan answered, "We're sitting ducks."

Rush nodded, his dark eyes staring at a point behind Evan. No matter what Evan thought about Rush as a person – and that was not much, since the Scotsman was abrasive and moody –, he had to admit that he was brilliant. So, since Rush was at a loss, Evan knew that they were screwed – royally.

"What about General O'Neill and the others?"

Rush shook his head. "We're unreachable. Our software's destroyed. The 'Gate won't react to a dial-in."

"You're working on it."

Rush shook his head. "As it looks … don't expect anything."

XXX

Daniel, Rodney and Carson were forced to their knees. While Carson pulled up his shoulders protectively, looking at the floor, Daniel and Rodney were staring down on Earth through the window.

"Oh, my God," Rodney said.

Jack smiled at Ba'al. "He's not talking to you." He seemed calm but Daniel could see how nervous he was. His brown eyes were narrowed, the posture tense. Jack's eyes were resting mainly on Daniel and he tried to give him an assuring smile. Briefly, Jack smiled back. Teal'c was standing attentively behind the general, his hands clasped behind his back. In a corner of the room, a door opened and Kalina entered. She stopped near the wall and clasped her hands. Ba'al again indicated a bow in her direction, raising his eyebrows questioningly – offering her the interrogation. Kalina shook her head.

Ba'al turned back to his prisoners, a content smile gracing his features. "Well, General O'Neill," he said conversationally, stepping behind the three men kneeling a few feet away from Jack, "where is the Ancient base?"

"Hey, I'd like to know that, too," Jack answered. One of the Jaffa handed Ba'al a pain stick and he activated it, a warning.

Daniel couldn't see Ba'al, but he could hear him and he knew that he was standing behind Rodney. "Where is it?" Ba'al asked with a dangerous edge to his voice.

The forced humour fled Jack's face. "I don't know."

Ba'al touched Rodney's shoulder with the stick and light penetrated Rodney's eyes and mouth as he started to scream. Carson flinched, staring at the scientist with terrified eyes. Daniel grimaced. He knew the effect of the device. It felt like fire. Jack was staring stoically at a point above Daniel's head. Rodney whimpered when the pain finally eased, panting heavily.

"Rodney?" Carson asked in panic, getting a kick to his ribs by one of the Jaffa in response. Daniel reminded himself that Carson was off-world for the first time - that he didn't know this - and he tried to catch his eyes.

When the scared eyes focused on him, he nodded at Carson.

"Oh, God," Rodney muttered.

"Where did you get the Ancient energy sources?" Ba'al asked.

"Wait a sec," Rodney pleaded when Jack opened his mouth to respond, "I'm not ready, yet."

"We got them from a place called Oz," Jack answered, "The Wicked Witch of the West gave it to us."

Daniel was tempted to laugh when Ba'al hesitated, obviously trying to gauge if Jack was telling him the truth. A new scream coming from Rodney convinced him that Ba'al hadn't bought Jack's lie.

"Rodney," Carson said hysterically when the other man collapsed, coughing. He touched Rodney's shoulder, turning him on his back. "Rodney."

"Get away from him," a Jaffa ordered, grabbing Carson by his jacket. Carson pulled away, wanting to lean over Rodney again, however Ba'al punished the movement with a touch of the pain stick. Carson collapsed next to Rodney panting, his arms wrapped around his head protectively.

Ba'al stepped behind Daniel. "Think about it, General O'Neill. I killed him once and I will …" His words blurred together and Daniel got sick. His headache increased to a pounding which tuned out all noises around him and he was sure that Ba'al hadn't even touched him.

Jack's voice penetrated the fog. "Daniel?" It was muffled as if it was coming from far away and Daniel didn't have the strength to kneel upright any more.

He fell forwards, stopping his fall with his hands. Pain shot through his head, through his whole body, and he tried to scream but he couldn't. A breathless whimper escaped him and everything went black.

He woke up only a second later, as he hit the ground, and all noises were back suddenly.

"Daniel! Let go of me."

He opened his eyes and saw Jack who was held back by Teal'c and one of the other Jaffas. Rodney was lying unconsciously on the floor. Carson was staring at Daniel aghastly, his own pain seemingly forgotten. His eyes were showing a horror, Daniel couldn't understand. Daniel raised one hand to let Jack know that he was awake.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ba'al asked, his voice sounding strangely jarring. Daniel wondered what had happened. Ba'al usually wasn't that easy to shake. The Goa'uld approached Jack with quick steps. "Tell me!" When Jack didn't answer, Ba'al backhanded him with the handle of the pain stick. Jack collapsed, unconscious. "Remove them!" Ba'al ordered. Daniel was grabbed by one of the Jaffas and forced to his feet. His legs didn't have the strength, yet, to keep him upright and he collapsed again. The Jaffa pulled him up roughly and Daniel managed to keep his feet under him. Jack and Rodney were both unconscious and were dragged away by Jaffas. Daniel was pushed forwards and stumbled into Carson who was also pulled to his feet.

"What was that?" Carson asked and Daniel shook his head, at a loss. He couldn't look at Carson. His focus was caught by Teal'c. Their eyes met and Daniel recognized confusion in the dark depths. He was pushed around a corner, then, and lost the visual contact.

"Teal'c," Ba'al said sharply, pulling the big Jaffa back to reality. He accepted the pain stick. Ba'al was more upset than Teal'c had ever seen him. Something swung in the tone of the Goa'uld that he had never heard before from his God, fear.

He was also confused. When the young prisoner had broken down, he'd thought that Ba'al had used the torture device, but the Goa'uld had taken a frightened step backwards.

Kalina's melodic voice was speaking, "Let me try the next time." She seemed unimpressed by what had just happened. But ... Teal'c had never seen something like that before.

He was just as disturbed as his God.

"We'll take the weak one. Then we'll get the answers we want."

Ba'al didn't answer. He was staring at the place where Daniel Jackson had knelt.

Teal'c knew what he was seeing in front of his inner eye because he was seeing it, too. It had almost looked like Daniel Jackson's body would blur and then ... Teal'c shook his head. It had looked as if a man who was looking like Daniel Jackson had tried to escape from his body.

And Teal'c wondered whether this occurrence was connected with the prisoner who was in the cell just a few feet down the corridor from the four Ta'uri.

XXX

Carson leant over Rodney in worry, when the scientist groaned softly.

"Rodney?" he asked. His hands were still trembling and the echo of the pain the torture device had caused was reverberating through his joints and muscles.

They were burning whenever he moved. But it had to be even worse for Rodney, so Carson sucked it up. That didn't stop his panicked mind from asking him what in the hell he'd thought by going through the Stargate.

He wasn't made for these missions. Rodney squinted at the ceiling. "Ow," he said, "that hurt."

"Rodney, are you okay?" Carson asked.

Rodney sat up carefully, Carson helping him.

"Aside from a headache from hell, and the feeling as if someone …" He closed his eyes. His head was pounding, his bones, his muscles … everything was burning. "I don't know an analogy that fits."

Carson smiled briefly. Rodney squinted when the room started to sway dangerously. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Please don't," Jack answered and Rodney opened his eyes only a little to look at him. Jack sat leaning against the black wall, his lip was bloody and he was sporting a cut over his eyebrow. The wound didn't bleed any more but dried blood was sticking at his temple and cheek. Rodney wouldn't have expected Daniel to be able to look even worse than he felt but he did. The archaeologist was sitting next to Jack. He was pale, cold sweat covering his face. Jack had put an arm around him and Daniel's head was resting on his shoulder.

His eyes were closed. Rodney couldn't say whether he was unconscious or awake until Daniel moaned softly, tensing up as if he was fighting against a cramp.

Carson caught Rodney's shocked look. "He's getting worse."

Rodney tried to massage his headache away. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Jack answered, "Ba'al brought us back here before he could get his answers."

Rodney frowned. "Why?"

Jack tightened his hug. "The entropic cascade failure thing freaked him out."

"What?" Rodney asked, shocked. Jack just shook his head, avoiding his eyes. He focused on the corridor. A strangely empty look that Rodney knew somehow was in his eyes.

Carson's voice was sounding disbelieving and rough as if he wasn't sure what had happened. "It looked as if … it looked as if another Daniel …" He stopped helplessly.

"ECF. I saw it once. I know what it looks like," Jack answered.

Rodney shook his head. "General, that's impossible. Doctor Jackson's dead."

"I know," Jack answered loudly, "I'm the one who was at his funeral. But, McKay – it was ECF."

Rodney raised a calming hand. "Okay, let's say it is … why did the symptoms take so long to show?"

"They were there the whole time," Carson answered, "Daniel got headaches approximately 48 hours after he arrived in this reality."

Jack and he seemed to have talked a lot about this while Rodney had been unconscious. "The symptoms developed pretty slowly, don't you think?"

"Maybe because Danny was too far away. Maybe the distance played a part. McKay, our only experiences with ECF were in situations where the ones suffering it met each other. It could be possible."

"That means that Dr. Jackson's still alive," Rodney deduced. Jack nodded. Rodney suddenly recognized the empty, desperate expression in his eyes. Shortly after Dr. Jackson's death, he'd seen it on Jack's face. And although Rodney wasn't one for donating comforting words, he said, "We couldn't know, General. _You_ couldn't know."

Jack shook his head. "How?" The answer was as simple as it was terrifying.

"Ba'al was experimenting with clones for months. We know that," Rodney answered. Carson stared at him in surprise, but he fought down his curiosity.

"So he could've cloned the other team members as well. He did all that … why?" Jack asked.

"Maybe to prevent us from trying to rescue them," Rodney said.

"If he's still alive," Jack said, "he could be here."

Rodney nodded. "Since three months."

Jack leant his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He pulled Daniel closer and swallowed. When he thought about what his boyfriend could have been through these past months, he felt sick. And not just Daniel, but the team that had been with him. The SGC had just given them up.

And now, another Daniel could die because of it. Daniel groaned and pressed against Jack.

"Shh," the general said softly.

"Jack?" Daniel whispered.

"Yeah, everything's going to be okay," the general tried to calm him down.

"I never told you … never …"

Jack brushed a hand through Daniel's brown hair.

"Let's try," Daniel said.

"What?" Jack asked. Daniel opened his eyes, looking up at him but his eyes were feverish and Jack suspected that he had no idea whom he was talking to.

Jack bowed his head and dropped a kiss on Daniel's forehead. "Sleep."

Daniel pulled Jack's head down further and kissed his lips. Jack broke the kiss, startled. "Danny …," he said. Daniel closed his eyes and shook his head.

He lost consciousness.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**10.**

The steps echoing down the corridor caused Carson to wince. He forced the panic down and tried to concentrate on remaining strong but he couldn't. Jack, Daniel, even Rodney ... all of them were so much more experienced with this ... Carson was part of this for only for two weeks now and he never had done something more exciting then to ask Kenneth Lloyd out for a date in college. And since that had ended badly, this situation could end even worse.

Two Jaffas stopped in front of the cell. One of them was Teal'c. Carson looked at Daniel who hadn't moved since the last attack ten minutes ago and he realized that the only one who knew how to get Teal'c to see their point wouldn't be able to.

Teal'c looked into the cell before he opened the door with a touch to the control panel on the wall opposite the cell door. He indicated Carson. "Come."

Carson swallowed. Jack shook his head and he left Daniel leant against the wall to get up. "No. I'm coming. I'm the leader. I know the most about-"

"Silence!" Teal'c screamed and Jack's hands became fists. Teal'c gave the other Jaffa a signal and he went into the cell towards the corner where Carson and Rodney were cowering.

"No, you don't!" Jack demanded and made for intercepting him, but Teal'c pointed his staff weapon to his chest. Jack raised his hands in defence while Carson was dragged up and shoved to the door by the other Jaffa. Jack stared at Teal'c. "No," he said, remembering what Carson had told him about Daniel and the Jaffa and added, "Please."

Something that looked like sympathy glittered in Teal'c's eyes, perhaps surprise, too, but it died just as fast. He pushed the weapon into Jack's chest and left the cell. The door met its lock with a bang. Carson flinched, staring at Jack in terror. Rodney jumped to his feet, going to the bars with quick steps. "Carson. It's going to be alright."

The Jaffa started to pull him along and Carson nodded at Rodney, trying to defeat his panic. He didn't really make it.

"Carson," Rodney called, "you're going to be okay!" His voice faded away and then, Carson was alone in the endless corridors of the spaceship - with the two Jaffas. Teal'c seized Carson's jacket and talked to the other Jaffa in a language Carson didn't understand. He nodded and let Carson go, before he went off in another direction.

Teal'c dragged Carson further down the corridor and suddenly, the doctor realized that he could do something. He scraped the knowledge together that he'd learned by reading within the last two weeks during lunch breaks and in the evening in his accommodation.

"The Goa'uld are false gods." He swallowed. "You know that. Your people could be free from … the symbiotes."

Teal'c didn't reply, but forced him to walk on.

"Okay," Carson said, "I know you need them to stay alive but maybe you could … you could … I could find a possibility for you to survive without them. I'm a doctor. I studied …"

Teal'c didn't seem to understand him.

"I'm a … shaman?" Carson tried, then another word occurred to him. "A healer." Maybe he was imagining Teal'c's hesitation. "I could try to find a solution. We don't know much about your physiology because we …" He stopped. He shouldn't mention that until now the SGC only had been able to examine dead Jaffas and their symbiotes.

And he didn't feel quite comfortable with it, either. But those had been the reports Carson had been most interested in.

He wished that he'd read more about the Jaffas' culture, about which the SGC knew just as little as about their physiology.

"I can help. With your help, I can do that."

Teal'c stopped in front of a door and it opened automatically.

"Oh God," Carson whispered when he saw what was inside.

XXX

Daniel had never felt more rotten in his life.

Well, maybe after the accident on Kelowna. A renewed cramp shook his body and he gritted his teeth. Nope, never. Every muscle was aching, clenching and trembling. His headaches were unbearably and oddly enough, he was cold. He moaned softly, as a new cramp hit him and Jack pulled him closer. A kiss touched his forehead. "We have to get him out of here," Jack said, worried.

Rodney was standing at the bars, staring at the mechanism across the hall as if he could activate it by force of mind. The fact that Carson was gone was weighing him down. He was sick with worry. Carson had looked so terrified when the Jaffas had dragged him away.

"Splendid idea, General. Give me a minute to bend those bars apart."

"Can't we push the button somehow?"

Rodney turned around to face him. Frustration became anger.

"We could, if our arms could reach across the hallway." He went through his pockets. "Have you got something we could throw?"

"Throw?"

"To hit the mechanism."

Jack shook his head. "They took everything."

"Yes," Rodney sighed and then turned back around to the corridor, to the mechanism just out of reach.

XXX

Carson was curled up in a corner of the small room in which Kalina and four men in cowls had waited for him.

The faces of the men were pale and strange characters were etched into their skin. Their pupils were from a dark white. Carson had heard descriptions of Priors. But none of the stories the soldiers reassigned from the SGC to Antarctica had told him how Ori tortured.

He closed his eyes, putting his hands over his ears, however the Priors' voices kept drilling into his head, thundering through his thoughts. His whole body hurt as if all nerves were hyper sensitive. His clothes touching his skin felt like sandpaper with every gasping breath he took. He whimpered softly, seeing through his tears the four Priors with their books, reading from them as if they were preaching. A small distance away, Kalina was standing and waiting. He didn't know how long this had been going on. It felt like days, however, it could have been mere hours. He didn't understand their words. They were of Latin origin, he knew that much, but they sounded different, wrong somehow. And they flowed into each other, overlapping, and he wasn't really interested in their meaning either way. He knew what they wanted. It was as if they were still transmitting the questions to him although they weren't actually asking them anymore.

_Where did you get the power sources? Where is the Ancient base?_

Carson pressed against the wall, closing his eyes, and tried to disappear. They weren't allowed to learn where the base was situated, or that it was useless without the ZPMs in the rucksacks. Because they would destroy it with a couple of energy beams. The fear of the drones was Earth's only hope. It stopped them from an invasion. A picture of Antarctica as he'd seen it out of the helicopter on the way to the base unwontedly crept into Carson's mind.

He shook his head, forcing the picture away. They could see what he saw, he was sure of that. The voices of the Priors seemed to get louder, the pain got worse. It felt like fire. He was hot and sweat was gathering on his face. He couldn't show them the base. It would cause them to attack ... Carson sobbed. He couldn't show them the base ... and before Carson understood what had happened, something broke through his defences.

And Carson broke under the strain.

XXX

When Nicholas Rush entered Colonel Lorne's office, his face showed the soldier that their situation had gone from worse to disastrous. "Don't tell me," he pleaded.

"I can't repair the Stargate without access to a working DHD. And since we're unable to dial out and all our ships are needed here … I can't repair the 'Gate."

Lorne rubbed his tired eyes. He and Kawalsky weren't overtaxed by the task of leading the SGC and QMC without Jack's supervision. They'd done this before whenever the general was on other planets or in Washington.

But Earth was in danger, and the representatives of all countries were currently initiated into the situation by the President and the leaders of Canada, China, France and Russia ... only to inform their people that Earth would be run over soon. Their situation was worse than disastrous.

"I told you not to tell me."

"I don't think it would have helped you not to know."

"Why do you need a working DHD?" Lorne asked.

"To copy the dialling program from the DHD to our dialling computers." He became silent and bit his lower lip, his arms crossed.

Lorne suspected that there was something even worse the scientist wasn't telling him. His bright blue eyes widened questioningly. "Dr. Rush?"

"I looked into the virus. It was designed by Ba'al specifically for our computers. Worse, it's an abomination of the _Avenger_ virus Dr. Felger's currently working on."

Silence descended.

_Avenger_. The SGC's hope, now it was its downfall.

"Do I want to know how Ba'al could know that much about our computer systems and _Avenger_?"

Rush answered like he always did, plain-spoken and blunt. "Dr. Linus."

"The guy on the team that got caught and tortured by Ba'al with Dr. Jackson."

"After their deaths, we changed the IDCs and everything we always change after cases like this one," Rush answered.

"We didn't see that coming, huh?"

"Linus was working on the project with Felger."

"Ba'al got what he wanted. We're cut off from any help."

"We have the mirror," Rush suggested.

Lorne gave a forced laugh. "This is our reality. Getting Dr. Jackson was one thing, but … we have to save our asses on our own."

XXX

Teal'c entered the room when Kalina and the Priors started to file out of it. Kalina's face was just as unreadable as those of her devoted servants therefore Teal'c couldn't tell whether they'd gotten the answer they wanted.

"Lock him up," Kalina said without even giving Teal'c a glance and the Jaffa inclined his head in her direction when she left. He entered the room and closed the door. He found the man crouched in one of the corners. He was gasping audibly, his fingers cramped in the black material of his uniform, and it seemed as if every one of his breaths was hurting him. When Teal'c's shadow fell across him, he flinched, pressing against the wall as if it was able to protect him. Teal'c looked down at him and it was obvious that the Ta'uri were as vulnerable and weak as he'd heard. They didn't have the strength of a Jaffa or the technology that was at the Goa'ulds' disposal. Teal'c nevertheless couldn't help but think of the words of his master Bra'tac, years ago, as he'd still been in Apophis' services ... before Ba'al had conquered Apophis' empire and killed the snake God and Bra'tac. He'd sat in the garden of his house with Bra'tac, watching his son Rya'c and one of his friends play.

"_The Ta'uri conquered Ra and Seth, even Chronos. Don't tell me that you aren't already doubting the Gods. I know that you do, and that you did even before those humans appeared."_

Of course, Teal'c had his doubts. Many of the Jaffas had them. But the rivalry under the Goa'ulds was big. A peaceful conversation with the warriors of an enemy was impossible, the forming of an alliance unthinkable. And the Goa'ulds might not be gods but they had power, weapons and enough faithful warriors at their disposal. And then there were the symbiotes the Jaffas needed to survive.

How could Teal'c who had a family even consider to rage against his God?

He looked down at the Ta'uri. "Is it true?" he asked. The man winced as if Teal'c had screamed at him when in truth, the primus hadn't even spoken loud.

Results of the torture. Teal'c had already seen so many victims of the Ori.

Even Jaffas broke under their torture. The man looked up to him with blue uncomprehending eyes.

"Is it true that you can free us from the symbiotes?" Teal'c asked. The man groaned softly and Teal'c squatted down beside him. "Answer."

The man nodded weakly. "We … have brilliant healers. All we need is … a healthy Jaffa."

Teal'c tipped his head to the side.

"You know that they are liars, right?" the man asked softly. He stared at Teal'c. "Please, help us. We have to … they will conquer Earth." He closed his eyes. Teal'c extended a hand, putting it on the Ta'uri's arm. Then he gripped his hand, pulling him to his feet. The man stumbled over his own feet and would've fallen if any other Jaffa had been standing beside him. But Teal'c supported him and put one of his arms around his broad shoulders. The man seemed to have hardly enough strength to keep himself upright. He moaned softly.

Teal'c headed for the door. "We have to free your friends," he said.

XXX

When steps echoed down the corridor, Rodney pressed against the bars. He stared down the hallway, waiting, until he saw Teal'c approaching with Carson. The doctor seemed to be uninjured but he was hardly walking on his own. Teal'c seemed to drag his weight – one of Carson's arms wrapped around his shoulders. Rodney could see the black belt of a bag on one of his shoulders. He stepped away from the door. "General," he said and Jack got up. He pushed Rodney behind his body protectively. Daniel was lying on the ground in one of the corners of the cell, unconscious. He hadn't reacted to them since roughly half an hour. Carson had been gone for a long time. Long enough that Rodney had started to wonder if they'd killed him.

Teal'c opened the cell door and entered. Rodney saw Carson raising his head slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. Teal'c looked at Jack, then Daniel. "We don't have much time," he said, "I'll take Daniel Jackson with me."

"What? Hey, wait a minute," Jack said, "He's unconscious. You can't torture him."

Teal'c stared at him, danger in his eyes. "I have no intention of doing that." He held his bag out for Rodney to take and now, Rodney recognized one of their backpacks.

Carson raised his head with difficulty. "General … he's on our side."

"What?" Jack asked.

"We do not have time for this," Teal'c said, stepping towards them. He handed Rodney the bag and the scientist took it. He felt the hard edges of the ZPM through the rucksack's fabric and stared at Teal'c in surprise. Teal'c passed Carson on to Rodney.

The scientist had difficulty to keep the doctor upright for a moment since he had to sling the rucksack over one shoulder, too. "What's wrong with him?" he asked.

"The Ori have their own torture tactics." Teal'c stopped next to Daniel and lifted him into his arms.

Jack stepped up to him. "I'll take him," he said firmly.

"You're needed for another person," Teal'c answered.

"Carson?" Rodney asked softly.

Carson groaned. "'m sorry."

"For what?" Rodney asked.

"Showed 'em."

"We have to leave," Teal'c said, heading for the door. Jack and Rodney had hardly anything else left but to follow him. When Rodney had difficulties in helping Carson alone, Jack supported the doctor's other side.

"Why are you helping us?" he asked.

Teal'c answered, "I ordered all Jaffa away from this area. But we have to hurry. We can talk of this later." He stopped in front of another cell. Jack let Carson go and gripped the bars, his eyes drawn into the cell and inevitably to the only prisoner who was lying on the ground.

"Danny," he whispered. Bloody scratches were marring Daniel's face and his hands. The green trousers were dirty and blood scabby and the black t-shirt torn in some places. Bloody wounds were under the shirt. His hair was a little longer and he had a beard but it was obviously Daniel.

Teal'c opened the door and Jack hurried to his lover. "Baby," he said, pulling the unconscious man into his arms. Daniel was breathing, even though weakly. Jack sobbed. For three months he'd thought to have lost Daniel.

Three months, during those he would have almost given up, leaving Cheyenne Mountain behind. But the base had also been Daniel's doing and Jack hadn't been able to give it up.

"General," Rodney warned him.

Jack nodded. "I know." He came to his feet, Daniel slung over his shoulder. He forced the lover in him back, and stared at Teal'c. "Where to?"

"The hangar," the Jaffa answered.

XXX

When the door to his quarters onboard _Artemis_ opened and the overhead lights were switched on, Everett Young sat up in his bed, immediately alarmed.

"Sir," an airman panted, "they're firing."

As if to confirm his words, the ship shook through a hit.

"Get everyone to their stations," Young ordered, "I'm right there."

"Sir, you don't understand," the man said and Young stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"They already passed by our frontline. One of their ships is behind ours, above Earth. It suddenly appeared and sent Death Gliders and Al-Keshs towards Earth."

Everett didn't take the time to reconsider the situation. His instincts took over. "Send the F-302s to intercept the Death Gliders and Al-Keshs. I'm on my way to the bridge. Get me the other commanders and Colonel Lorne on the screen."

The soldier nodded and turned away to leave when Everett got out of bed, grabbing his pants. "Airman!" he called.

The young man returned. "Sir?"

"Where are the Death Gliders headed?"

"Antarctica, sir."

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**11.**

Dr. Rush rubbed his chin, looking at Lorne. "You know what that means."

Lorne was staring at Colonel Young who could be seen on the flat screen in the conference room. A busy hustle and bustle could be seen behind the commander of the _Artemis_. The picture shook in irregular distances. The _Artemis_ was hit repeatedly but her shields were still holding.

"They know where the Ancient base is," Rush said, "Why else would they send their gliders to Antarctica?"

"I know," Lorne answered, irritated.

Young nodded at someone Rush and Lorne couldn't see.

"_Evan, we tried to attack the ship behind our frontline, but the enemy ships won't give us the time to do it. We can barely hold our own."_

"How could it just pass by you?"

"_We didn't see it. But we scanned the immediate area every fifteen minutes. We don't know how our equipment could miss it."_

"Maybe a new cloaking technology," Rush said.

Lorne brushed a hand through his short hair. "Everett, I want _Artemis_ to evacuate the people in the Ancient base."

Young nodded, repeating the order to his people.

Rush laughed bitterly. "That was their goal from the start," he said, "The Ancient outpost."

"How could they suddenly know its location?" Lorne asked.

Rush crossed his arms. "You know the answer, Colonel."

XXX

Rodney was so engaged in taking care that Carson didn't stumble and take him down with him that he didn't notice that Teal'c had stopped. The Jaffa's large hand pressing against his chest made him realize that the warrior wasn't moving. "Careful," the giant said and Rodney swallowed when he looked into his eyes. Teal'c seemed completely calm. Daniel from the alternate reality was lying over his shoulder, still unconscious. Rodney pulled Carson closer, tightening his hold around the hip of the other man. Jack stopped beside them, the other unconscious Daniel on his shoulder.

Carson rested his head on Rodney's shoulder. "Showed 'em …," he muttered.

"Yeah, I know," Rodney answered.

"Quiet," Teal'c said and Rodney obeyed. The huge hangar was in front of them. Death Gliders, the Goa'ulds' version of aerial fighters, hung in their devices and were prepared for take-off, some of them were just starting. A troop transporter, called Al-Kesh, left the ship. While the Death Gliders only consisted of a pilot pulpit and two wings, the big Al-Kesh had a form which reminded something of a pyramid. Both, the Death Gliders and the Al-Kesh, were shimmering in a neutral gray.

"Damn it, they're attacking," Jack said, staring through the force field through which the gliders left the ship into space, heading down to the icy desert of Antarctica, looking so vulnerable and small.

"This is a Tel'tak," Teal'c said, pointing to a ship that was looking like a smaller version of the Al-Kesh, "It's a cargo ship. It's just what we need."

"Won't they notice that we took it?" Jack asked.

Teal'c stared at him earnestly. "They will."

"Great," Jack muttered, "Let's get the hell out of dodge."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. He turned away, taking point. They pressed against the wall, slipping by some Death Gliders, trying to stay out of sight. The busy hustle and bustle in the hangar prevented them from being seen. The door of the ship was open and Teal'c entered first.

"That's just great," Rodney said, "I'm afraid of airplanes."

"Just go," Jack said, pushing him inside. They entered the small pilot area of the ship. The walls were gold and lined with etched hieroglyphs. There were seats for the pilot and co-pilot facing out a big window. The ship was steered by a red shining round crystal, as big as Jack's head. The door closed behind Jack. Teal'c came back from an adjacent room. Rodney assumed that that was the cargo area of the ship. It even had rings, with which they could leave the ship via beaming technology. Jackson was lying near the wall on the floor and he looked so pale that Rodney watched him for a moment to see if he was still breathing. Danny didn't look much better. Jack carefully lay him down too, and stroked his cheek tenderly before he turned around to Teal'c, who had taken a seat in the front part of the ship in the pilot seat. "Let's go." The ship trembled when the engines started. Jack leant over Daniel. Rodney helped Carson to sit down. Carson grimaced, and Rodney knelt next to him. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," Carson answered.

Rodney smiled. "You're doing great," he assured, and took Carson's hand. The doctor looked up at him with surprise, and Rodney let go of his hand. Nervously, he turned away. "Where are we going, General?" Rodney asked, checking on Jackson. He was still unconscious, his skin clammy.

Jack took off his jacket and covered Danny up with that, obviously frustrated that he couldn't do more for him. He looked at Rodney. "Let's start with surviving the flight to Earth."

"Antarctica," Carson said softly.

Jack shook his head. "That's not a good idea. They know where the base is and they're going to attack it. It's lost."

Carson shook his head. "Showed 'em," he said, opening his eyes ever so slightly.

Rodney sighed. "Well, saying it for the third time won't undo it."

"No," Carson said softly, "Atlantis … I showed 'em Atlantis. Not the base."

Jack joined them, crouching down in front of Carson. "Dr. Beckett, are you sure?"

"I didn't want to … but they … I showed 'em Atlantis. The address 'n' … the city. Not the base. They had to give up 'cause I … didn't show 'em."

"They don't know where the base is?" Jack asked.

Carson shook his head. "They jus' know that it's … somewhere in Antarctica."

"That's why they're flying down there," Rodney said.

"But what are they attacking?" Jack asked. He got up and headed into the pilot area. The window showed him Earth coming closer. Death Gliders and Al-Keshs flew past them and didn't seem to take any note of them. The sight was alarming.

"We are cloaked and therefore not in danger," Teal'c said as if he'd heard Jack's thoughts, "I am sure that they have discovered by now that you're gone."

"Teal'c, those gliders … if they don't know where the base is but only in what area … what would they do?"

Teal'c looked at Jack earnestly. "They will look for energy readings in the immediate area and attack those. One after another. Until all of them are gone."

"That means that, maybe, they didn't find the base, yet." He sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "Teal'c, I'll lead you there. Maybe, we still have a chance to stop this."

XXX

Everett flinched when the _Odin_, floating in space directly beside them, was hit by one of the Ori ships and exploded into a bright ball of fire. The explosion's effect hit the _Artemis_. Major Marks who was sitting in his chair next to Everett announced, "That's the third ship we lost to the Ori. Their weapons are more effective than anything we've encountered before."

"Our shields are Asgard technology," Young answered, "You want to tell me that the Ori are smarter then they are? Because that would mean a big problem."

They had destroyed two of the Goa'uld ships.

The fighter pilots in Earth's F-302s were trying to keep the Death Gliders and Al-Keshs at bay over Antarctica, losing more and more fighters. Their opponents still didn't leave them any time to attack the ship, on which Ba'al presumably was. It was still floating dangerously over Earth, constantly sending new Death Gliders towards Antarctica. The bridge was thrumming with tension behind Everett. The crew was shouting orders and tried to settle damages.

"Keep firing. Concentrate on the Ori ships," Everett ordered, gripping the armrests of his chair when one of the Ori ships hit them.

"Shields are down to 50%," Marks announced.

"We're the next to go down," Everett muttered, "Contact Lorne. We're evacuating the Antarctica expedition team to the SGC."

Marks nodded and while he was speaking to Lorne, Captain Fry sitting on the other side of Everett, called over the noise of another hit, "Sir, reports from Earth. Death Gliders and Al-Keshs started to attack civilian stations in Antarctica. Two of them have been already destroyed." He looked at Everett in shock. "They're heading for McMurdo."

Everett rubbed his forehead. "They're searching for the Ancient base, attacking everything they find."

Marks said, "Sir, Colonel Telford for you."

Everett looked at the screen before him, nodding at the commander of the _Selene_. "David, how are you holding up?"

Telford's dark eyes were the only thing in his face betraying his tension. The sharply cut features seemed completely calm. _"I lost contact to my F-302s. Looks as if the battle over Antarctica is already lost. We just got confirmation that the Death Gliders and Al-Keshs are heading for McMurdo." _

Everett nodded. "Yeah, I know. Our F-302s are still holding their own, but we don't know how long that will last. Colonel Caldwell lost his pilots. We're unable to establish communication with _Prometheus_, but she's still there. Maybe their radio's down."

The _Artemis_ trembled through another hit.

"Sir, shields are down to 30%. Antarctica expedition team's arrived at the SGC," Marks said.

"David, you have to evacuate McMurdo. All the bases – civilian and military – have to be evacuated."

Telford nodded. _"Our shields are down to 76%. Everett-"_

"I know," Young interrupted. The battle was already lost.

XXX

Teal'c landed the Tel'tak with such precision that Jack almost didn't realise that they were standing on firm ground.

"The ship's still cloaked," the Jaffa said, standing up from his seat.

"General?" Rodney asked, entering the pilot area. He stared at the SGC's base in front of them. The base was officially regarded as a research site of the USA. Only some knew that under the thick ice, an Ancient outpost was hidden. "General, what are we doing here?" Rodney asked.

Jack got up. "Saving Earth," he said, "Again."

Teal'c followed him into the back part of the ship. Jack was leaning over his boyfriend who was still unconscious. When Teal'c helped Jackson to his feet, Rodney realized that he was awake. He held his head in a hand and his eyes were closed. Rodney could see the pain etched into his face. "What …," he asked in confusion. He stared at Teal'c. "What …"

"Long story, Danny," Jack answered, "McKay, help Beckett." He lifted Danny on his shoulders.

"Okay," Rodney said, feeling overwhelmed. He settled the rucksack with the ZPM on his shoulders. Then he helped Carson to his feet and followed the others outside. The cold of Antarctica almost caused him to stumble backwards into the ship. They were clearly underdressed for these kind of temperatures. Snow crunched under his boots. The entrance to the base was still several meters away. He heard the door of the ship sliding closed turned back to look at it. He blinked. Only the wide ice desert was stretching in front of him. The ship's cloak was perfect. One would only notice it when he ran into it. The cold wind was cutting into Rodney's lungs with every breath he took and he grimaced. "Oh man, that's so unfair. I wish I never would have taken this job," he muttered.

"McKay," Jack said, but he didn't sound irritated or reproachful, but shocked.

Rodney stared at him. "What? Can't a man-"

"Is that McMurdo?" Jack asked and Rodney followed his look. A cloud of smoke was climbing towards the sky in the distance. Above it, Death Gliders and Al-Keshs were fighting against F-302s. War was here.

He nodded. "McMurdo." His eyes widened in terror. "General, that Al-Kesh-"

"It's heading for us," Jack confirmed.

"We have to hurry," Teal'c said, gracefully lifting Jackson over his shoulder. Jack made a run for the entrance of the station. Teal'c followed him. Rodney wanted to run after them but Carson stumbled.

"Oh, c'mon," Rodney said pleadingly, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

Carson stumbled again.

"McKay!" Jack yelled.

"I'm trying!" Rodney answered. He tried to lift Carson, but he tripped over a small snowdrift and fell, taking Carson with him.

"I don't believe it!" he heard Jack cursing. Rodney got up and helped Carson gain his footing. Suddenly, Teal'c was there, helping him to support the doctor to the entrance of the station. Rodney stumbled over snowdrifts and slipped repeatedly, but he didn't fall. He ran into the station with Teal'c and breathed a sigh of relief. It was quiet within the glass dome. The guards' positions were abandoned. The vehicles stood in their positions, left behind. Nobody could be seen, and it was deathly silent. Jack stood before the pull-up leading down into the outpost and pressed the call button. "For crying out loud, McKay," he said, pushing the button again and again.

"What?" Rodney asked in irritation, "We can't all be Superman, you know?"

Jack continued pushing the button and Rodney said, "That won't make the elevator get here faster." Explosions struck outside, shattering the silence. They were under attack. The enemy was here. The explosions formed an echo over the endless ice desert and Rodney gasped. He shoved Jack's hand aside and pressed the button himself. The provisional elevator rumbled to a squeaking hold and Rodney couldn't open the door fast enough to get in.

"They must have evacuated the base," Jack said with a glance back into the entrance area. Another explosion struck, this one close enough to push its heat through the entrance and into the elevator. Leisurely, the elevator began to move downwards. Rodney stared at the Al-Kesh, distorted by the glass dome, getting closer and sent a quick prayer to the sky, that they wouldn't feel the next hit before they disappeared under the surface and he couldn't see the Al-Kesh any more. The elevator just passed half of the way when several explosions could be heard from above.

The noise of splintering glass and bursting metal was deafening. The elevator swayed and Rodney worried for a moment that it would just stop, or fall, but nothing happened.

Jack pushed the door open before they left the small cabin. It was as quiet down here as upstairs. The workstations were orphaned, the large room was silent and the chair was standing abandoned on his pedestal. Ice was raining from the ceiling, the explosions sounded, muffled by the thick ice. "They're directly above us," Jack said.

"They will not stop until everything is destroyed," Teal'c answered.

Jack headed for the chair in the middle of the room, laying Danny on the ground. "McKay, help Beckett."

"Alright already," Rodney muttered, helping Carson towards the chair, "General, I don't know if-"

"What other possibilities do we have?" Jack asked. There were new explosions and parts of the ceiling kept raining down on them.

Teal'c helped Jackson to sit beside his alter ego and looked up. "Will this building hold?" he asked.

"Against an army of Death Gliders and Al-Keshs?" Jack asked with his eyebrows raised. Teal'c grabbed the rucksack and Rodney freed himself from the bag. Teal'c opened it and Jack took the ZPM out. He knelt at the base of the pedestal and opened the ZPM chamber. "The ZPM's not depleted," he said to Teal'c who was watching him with interest while Jack was getting out the old energy source, "But it doesn't have the energy to activate the drones. This one …" He slipped the ZPM into place and it lightened up obediently. "… should do the trick."

Rodney put Carson into the chair. Nothing happened. Carson was lying in the device with his closed and didn't stir. Worry seized Rodney and he nudged Carson's shoulder. "Hey, activate it!" he said. Carson weakly turned his head. "C'mon," Rodney pleaded.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Maybe the ZPM's broken."

Rodney shook his head. "No, it should work."

"How would you know? Take a look at the thing."

"I can't solve this problem by looking at it, General, I- ouch!"

The footrest had hit his shin when the chair had finally activated and reached its reclining position.

"That's it," he said, "Now the drones."

Carson squinted his eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate, but he shook his head. "I can't."

Another explosion from above. Jack jumped aside when a large portion of the ceiling came loose and struck the floor beside him. He hurried to Jackson and Danny. "McKay!" he called. Teal'c joined him to help and bring the two men to a more protected part of the room.

"Carson, c'mon. Concentrate."

Carson shook his head. "'m trying. I …"

"C'mon," Rodney pleaded. He gripped Carson's shoulder and the other man winced as if Rodney had hit him. "You can do it," Rodney said. He leant over Carson, cupping his head. "Look at me!" he said loudly, "Ignore the pain."

Carson sobbed.

"I know it's hard, but, Carson …"

Another hit and the ceiling above the chair cracked. Rodney looked up, then to Carson and when he noticed that the other man was staring anxiously at the ceiling, breathing heavily, he pressed his forehead to Carson's, forcing the blue eyes to look at him.

"Carson … activate the drones. I know you can do it."

Carson stared at Rodney – pain and exhaustion etched into his face.

"C'mon," Rodney said softly. He tuned out everything around them. "C'mon." He closed his eyes and stroked Carson's dark hair with his fingers, then he dropped a kiss on his lips. "C'mon."

A yellow light beside him caused him look up, and he stiffened when hundreds of small, yellow light balls conquered their way through the ceiling and towards liberty. He looked back at Carson who was sitting in the chair with his eyes closed and a strained face.

"That's it," he said in shock, "You're doing it!"

XXX

Lorne and Rush were standing in the conference room together, looking at the satellite pictures the flat screen was showing them. Above McMurdo, a battle between Earth and the attackers was raging. From this distance, it was difficult to say which side was gaining the upper hand or which of the small dots were Earth's fighters.

Rush indicated several small black dots which were moving towards the Ancient base.

"They will attack."

"They already are," Lorne answered, staring at the could of smoke and dust curling towards the sky above the base. The bird's-eye view was requiring habituation, but he saw that it didn't look good for Earth.

Rush rubbed his chin. Then, he squinted his eyes, leaning closer to the screen. "Colonel," he said. Lorne followed his look. Something bright stood out from clouds of smoke.

"What the hell is that?"

"If I didn't know any better …," Rush muttered.

"Drones," Lorne said when the bright fast weapons drew closer, tearing up Death Gliders and Al-Keshs on their way, "Bring up an image of the ship, now."

Rush hurried to the near desk and using the keyboard, called another satellite picture up. It showed the Ha'tak from which the Death Glider attack had started out. It was still hanging below the Earth fleet - unassailably since Earth was too much engaged in fending off the other ships. Rush hurried back to Lorne. Together, they watched as the drones attacked the Ha'tak. The explosion was intense, a part of the ship raced toward the camera and when the satellite was hit, the picture went black. Rush and Lorne stared at the dark screen as if it would still show the battle.

"They did it," Lorne said finally. Rush was only able to nod silently.

XXX

"Sir!" Marks called, "We're down to 10%."

Everett closed his eyes. "Thank you, Major."

Captain Fry said, "_Selene_ just sent confirmation. All the bases in Antarctica were evacuated."

"Good," Everett answered.

"Sir," Marks said. He stared at his screen. "Sir, I'm reading … thousands of energy signatures and they're headed for us."

"Death Gliders?" Everett asked. He looked out to the battle between the last Earth ships, the last two Ha'taks and the still invincible Ori ships.

"No," Marks answered. Everett was about to ask what it was when a woman behind him cried out in surprise and Marks pointed to the window. "Sir," he said in disbelief. Everett turned to look outside. His eyes widened in surprise when a flood of yellow shining bodies zipped by the ship, heading for the hostiles.

"What …"

The hectic on the bridge died down when everyone stopped what they doing to stare out the window.

"Drones," Captain Fry whispered in wonder, then he repeated loudly, "Sir, those are drones from the Ancient base."

The drones pierced through the shields of the hostile ships as if they weren't there, tearing holes into the hulls and even the Ori ships couldn't withstand them. Everett got up and approached the window, joining a couple of technicians who were staring at the display in awe. The hostile ships exploded, parts flying aimlessly through space, hitting each other and breaking. Everett closed his eyes, dazzled, when the ships of the Ori went up in four gigantic fireballs. Then it was over. The drones expired.

Breathless silence embraced the bridge.

Then, everyone broke out in jubilation at the same time. Everett was dragged into a joyful embrace by one of the technicians he only just so returned, still captured by the floating particles of the hostile ships.

"It's over," he whispered.

"Yes, sir," Major Marks said, suddenly standing next to him, "It's over."

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**12.**

A breathless silence hung in the icy air of the underground base. Teal'c and Jack were leaning protectively over the two Daniels, and looked sceptically up to the ceiling.

Danny coughed and Jack looked at his partner. Tired blue eyes stared back at him.

"Baby," Jack said softly, cupping his face, "Danny. It's okay. We found you."

Danny closed his eyes briefly when Jack dropped a kiss into his matted hair and pulled him into an embrace carefully. Danny turned his head gasped in surprise, and Jack also looked to Jackson who was laying on the ground, unconscious.

"Daniel?" he asked, worried.

Teal'c was kneeling beside the archaeologist, checking his pulse. "He is alive, but he is weakening," he said. His dark eyes found the chair just a few metres away.

Rodney was leaning with his chest above Carson protectively, his hands on the chair's backrest. "Carson, you okay?" he asked softly. The doctor nodded slowly and opened his eyes. The chair was deactivated. "You were great," Rodney said breathlessly, "So, so great."

Carson smiled softly. Then, he straightened up carefully. Rodney helped him. "You should stay down," he said uncertainly.

Carson gripped Rodney's shoulders and got to his feet, shaking and unsteady. "Not the chair," he muttered, "I could accidentally kill someone while I'm … unconsc …"

He collapsed and Rodney caught him rather ungracefully.

"It's okay, Carson, it's okay," he said.

Carson crossed his arms in Rodney neck. "Bloody hell … I'm still hurtin' everywhere," he muttered.

"You have to rest," Rodney said, "You promised me you'd invent a way to give me the ATA gene."

Carson laughed softly, a little helplessly. Rodney helped him to sit down on the ground next to the chair, and Carson rested his head against the device. "Good to know I'm good for something," he said in exhaustion. He closed the eyes, and Rodney's hand found its way into his dark hair. Carson tipped his head into the tender touch.

Rodney smiled. "To me, you are," he said.

XXX

Lorne and Rush hurried down the stairs to the control room of the SGC, where Walter Harriman was already waiting for them. It was strangely quiet in the control room. Everyone was employed in other parts of the SGC since, presently, the 'Gate couldn't be used. Without being asked to, Walter spoke while the two men were navigating the last steps down.

"The _Selene_ reported that all the enemy's ships are gone, sir. We lost three ships. The _Odin_, the _Prometheus_ and the _Diana_. The _Artemis_ is badly damaged. Colonel Young reported in and told me that he won't risk passing through the Earth's atmosphere. A team is getting ready to beam aboard the ship and help with the repairs as we speak."

"Good," Lorne answered.

Harriman continued, "We lost many F-302s. A report just came in, stating that one pilot, a Major Mitchell, was rescued from his ship which means that there's still hope for more survivors."

A noise from his computer caused Harriman to return to his desk. "The _Selene_ has opened a channel."

"Patch her through," Lorne said and turned around to the big screen hanging at the wall.

Colonel Telford nodded at him sharply. _"We found five life signs inside the Ancient base. Evan, you won't believe it."_

"General O'Neill?" Lorne guessed, and Telford nodded.

"_And then some. We'll beam them down to you right away."_

Rush, having stayed quiet until now, turned to Lorne.

"I want to know how they did that."

"You're not the only one," Lorne answered and headed for the 'Gate room.

Two soldiers were standing guard at the door when Lorne and Rush entered. The transportation beam from the _Selene_ was activated only a couple of seconds later. Lorne's first thought was that there were more people coming back than going away. Rodney was supporting Carson, who looked around the 'Gate room tiredly and in relief. Jack was helping another man who was clearly in bad shape, but beside him ... the soldiers pointed their weapons at the group and Lorne pulled Rush with him a step backwards, staring at the huge Jaffa holding an unconscious Daniel in his arms.

Jack raised one calming hand. "No. Put down your weapons. It's okay."

"Jack?" Lorne asked sceptically, and the soldiers continued to point their weapons at the Jaffa.

"He's our friend," the general said firmly. Hesitantly, the soldiers lowered their weapons.

Rush took a step forwards. "Dr. Jackson?" he asked, aghast. Lorne automatically looked at the unconscious man in the Jaffa's arms, but Rush was looking at the man who seemed to only be able to stand because of Jack.

"Is that …," Lorne asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. But we don't have much time. We have to get Daniel back to his reality."

"ECF," Rodney said, and Rush reacted.

"I'll call the QMC," he said and left hurriedly. One of the soldiers took Daniel from Jack. Lorne was just about to ask where the doctor was when Jennifer Keller ran into the 'Gate room, four EMTs with stretchers behind her. Jack relieved Teal'c of his burden and with one last look at his lover, left the 'Gate room. Lorne followed him. At the lifts, they met up with Rush who was holding open the doors to one of the elevators.

"They're searching for his reality as we speak. How bad is it?" he asked. They stepped into the elevator.

"The symptoms started on our first trip to Antarctica. He's barely breathing," Jack said.

Lorne shook his head, unable to grasp what was happening. "That's going to be one hell of a de-briefing."

"Yeah. You have no idea," Jack answered and left the elevator.

When they entered the mirror room, the device was already switched on. On the other side, soldiers were waiting with their guns drawn. Their weapons were lowered but they seemed ready to open fire any time. Lorne saw Jack O'Neill in the background and nodded at him. His Jack stepped in front of the mirror. "I'll be right back," he said.

Lorne stepped up to him in alarm. "Sir, do you really-"

"Yeah," Jack nodded. Without further discussion, he touched the surface.

_Reality No. 389_

He ignored the soldiers present, instead focusing on his alter ego. O'Neill remained careful, but Jack could see that he wanted to snatch Daniel away from him.

"I'm sorry," he said. O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "Our Daniel was … he's still alive." Jack couldn't hold back a smile at the words. Then, he became serious again. "It's entropic cascade failure. We recognized it too late."

O'Neill passed the soldiers and stopped right in front of Jack. Jack could see suppressed rage in his eyes and shook his head. "He'll be okay as soon as he wakes up."

O'Neill reached out his hands and Jack took a step backwards. "Wait a minute."

"Give him to me," O'Neill demanded angrily.

"I have to tell you something."

"You kidnapped him, forced him to help you, damn near killed him … what now?"

Jack smiled and pressed Daniel to his chest. "You're an idiot," he said just loud enough for O'Neill to hear.

"What?" O'Neill asked softly, dangerously.

"You damn well know."

O'Neill looked at him threateningly. "I have no idea."

"I know how you were looking at Daniel when he told you that he would help us. I know that look. You were worried but not for a team member. You love him."

"He's my best friend."

"Yes," Jack said, "Yes, he is." He shook his head. "But he could be more. If you think that he'll reject you, you're wrong. He loves you, too."

O'Neill's eyes reflected understanding, then fury. "He's not your Daniel. Just because you are some kind of couple doesn't mean-"

"He told me," Jack lied, "He loves you." He handed Daniel to O'Neill. Jack raised his hand, and gently brushed through Daniel's hair. "Don't be an idiot," he said, then he reached out a hand towards the mirror behind him and was gone.

_Reality No. 298_

He nodded at the technician and he switched off the mirror.

"What did you talk about?" Lorne asked.

Jack stared at the blind mirror. "That was personal." He turned away and smiled at Lorne. "Now, I don't wanna waste any more time. I should … I should be with Danny."

_Reality No. 389 – two weeks later_

"Wow!" Sam said and put a hand on Daniel's arm. She stepped closer and looked at his alter ego. Danny was sitting at the conference table with Teal'c, talking animatedly. Apart from General O'Neill, Carson, Danny and Rodney, one Dr. Rush had come for a visit from the alternate reality. The briefing had just come to an end. Although Sam had heard some stories of Daniel's adventure on the other side, to hear the whole story from different points of view left her reeling.

"One hell of an adventure," she sighed. Daniel nodded. "You okay?" Sam asked and he forced a smile.

"Fine."

It was nice to see the others again, but it opened old wounds he'd tried to suppress frantically since his return. It hurt to see O'Neill and Danny together although the two were holding back in this military environment. But Daniel didn't know how he could change his situation, and whether he should try at all.

"Oh, please!" Rodney said, climbing the stairs from the control room to the conference room, "That's not true."

Nicholas Rush was following him, his laptop under one arm and an irritated frown on his face. "You know that I'm right," he said.

Rodney rolled his eyes and turned around to face Nicholas with his hand on his hips. "You're not more fluent in Ancient than I am."

"I think I am."

"The expedition can have only one head of the science department."

"Me," Nicholas answered. Rodney snorted.

General O'Neill seemed to decide that he should intervene and got up from his seat the conference table. "Gentlemen," he said calmly. Both scientists turned to look at him. "Believe me, I'm trying to put at least one galaxy between the two of you as fast as possible, for all our sakes." He got death glares from both men but didn't seem to be impressed by them. "I didn't want to tell you yet, but there are actually two expeditions planned. We'll sort out later who's going to go to Atlantis, and who's going to get Icarus."

The two scientists stared each other down. Daniel thought that O'Neill's diversionary tactics had failed, and tried it himself. "Dr. Rush, were you able to copy the dialling program alright?"

The older man's dark eyes turned to Daniel. "Of course," he said, "I wrote it. Of course I was able to copy it."

"Uh … actually," Sam lifted a hand, "I wrote it."

Nicholas squinted and Daniel was already expecting the worst, but the scientist merely said, "It's a brilliant piece of work. How did you work out the Doppler problem?"

"Well, I needed a few hours for that one," Sam answered.

Nicholas nodded. "Me too."

Rodney rolled his eyes and turned away. He went over to Carson, who was talking to Jack in a corner of the room. If Daniel hadn't paid attention to it, he wouldn't have noticed Rodney taking Carson's hand for a second before devoting his attention to Jack. O'Neill tapped Daniel's shoulder, and nodded into another corner of the room. He leant against the wall with his hands in his BDU pockets, and looked to his boyfriend taking notes about whatever Teal'c was telling him.

"He could talk to your Teal'c," Daniel said, amused, and O'Neill answered, "Yeah. He did. I think he's comparing the two realities."

Danny looked at them and smiled at O'Neill. The general smiled back. "If Ba'al wouldn't have captured us …," he said, "… I wouldn't have gotten him back."

"It's strange," Daniel said, "All that's happened had a good outcome."

O'Neill nodded. "Danny," he said, then stopped. Daniel looked up at him. O'Neill shook his head. "Just … thanks."

Daniel nodded. Before he could answer "You're welcome", Jack had pulled him into an embrace. Daniel answered it and closed his eyes when, briefly, Jack pulled him even closer before he let him go. "Your Jack loves you," he said softly. He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and looked at him with earnest brown eyes. "Did I tell you who made the first move?"

Daniel looked at his alter ego. "You?" he guessed.

"Nope," O'Neill laughed, "I was a coward." He winked at Daniel. "Think about it."

XXX

"I'm fine, Jack," Daniel said in irritation, letting his best friend usher him into the house, taking the offered seat on the couch, "Dr. Lam says that I'm fine. It's been two weeks."

"You fell asleep on the drive over here."

"I'm just tired," Daniel answered, and relaxed. He loved Jack's couch. Since the first night he'd spent here after he'd returned from Abydos.

Jack was looking at him sceptically, then he disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water.

"Thanks," Daniel said. Jack fished a small vial with Tylenol out of his pocket, and put it on the table. Daniel stared at the tablets, then up at Jack. "You are carrying Tylenol with you?"

Jack shrugged and dropped into his chair. He propped his elbows on his knees. His chin rested in a palm. Daniel was still staring at the tablets and Jack said, "I can see your headache."

Daniel nodded slowly. He took one of the tablets. He gulped half of the water down, and when he put the glass on the table he noticed that Jack was staring at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," the general answered.

"You sure?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Silence descended and Daniel looked out into Jack's garden, then back at his best friend. "One hell of a de-briefing, huh?"

"Yeah," Jack answered.

"Was our Dr. Beckett found already?"

"Yeah," Jack answered, "and he just found a strange anomaly in a man's DNA."

"The Ancient gene," Daniel nodded.

"Right," Jack answered, "He got the full story, and signed the papers. He should be well on his way to Antarctica by now."

"Dr. McKay will be thrilled," Daniel grinned.

"Why do I suspect a story behind those words?"

Daniel laughed. "You didn't notice? Carson and Rodney are a couple."

"Really?" Jack asked, shocked, "I don't get why someone would even like McKay. He's a know-it-all, always bitching about something, allergic to everything …"

Daniel shrugged. "I think that he can be a really nice guy."

"Hm," Jack said, "So, you happy about their visit? "

Daniel looked at Jack questioningly. "Sure," he answered.

"Jack's … too?"

Daniel smiled. "Yeah." He avoided Jack's eyes, and concentrated on the Tylenol instead, the Tylenol Jack had carried around with him for Daniel.

"Don't you think that it's kinda weird that … we, in another reality, are a couple?"

Daniel looked at Jack. "No," he said without thinking.

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief. "No?"

Daniel closed his eyes and clenched his hands to fists. Then he looked up at Jack again, staring into his eyes. "No," he repeated, "I think it's …" He smiled. "I like the idea," he said. Jack swallowed, then he got up and left the living room. Daniel let his head fall into his hands. "Damn," he mumbled. He got up to go, but when he left the living room, Jack was suddenly standing in front of him. He had his hands on his hips and was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"Sorry," Daniel said, "I shouldn't have said that." He brushed through his hair in desperation. "Jack-"

"Me, too," the general said.

Daniel stopped. "What?"

"Me, too," Jack answered.

Daniel drew his eyebrows together and raised his forefinger. "But-"

"Forget about Carter," Jack interrupted him and took a step closer.

Daniel shook his head. "And-"

"Forget the military. There's _Don't ask, don't tell_ and to be honest … retirement sounds good right about now."

He took another step towards Daniel, who was staring at him in confusion.

"You-"

"Andrew Peterson in Air Force Academy. We dated," Jack said, taking the last step and placed a hand on the back of Daniel's neck. Earnestly, he caught Daniel's eyes.

Daniel gasped for air, not understanding what was going on. "I-"

Jack swallowed his sentence with a kiss. Daniel closed his eyes, and put his arms around Jack, pulling him closer.

"Besides," the general muttered in between kisses, "if a guy like McKay can date …"

"Jack," Daniel said, pushing his friend against the wall.

"Yeah?"

Daniel grinned. "Thanks for bringing the Tylenol. Now … shut up."

END

04/10


End file.
